Meaning of Life
by Heroine of the Valley
Summary: It will turn out PG13 later on for AS, V, and L. Anyway, the next generation of scouts have to face the worst enemy imaginable.
1. New Sailors

Sailors of The Seasons Terry Dale Terry Dale 14 950 2001-05-29T03:48:00Z 2001-10-20T02:45:00Z 7 3068 17489 none 145 34 21477 9.3821 0 0 

**Meaning of Life**

**Part 1--New Sailors**

_Disclaimer: I do not own RW or SM.  The only characters in this story that I can claim are the children of the warriors and the inners and the warlords and outers._

_An: This takes place WAY in the future.  In crystal Tokyo.  Isn't it funny in the future though, that everything looks like the medieval times?  Why doesn't Neo Queen Serenity have a phone or anything?_

Neo Queen Serenity's child, Pure Lady, Princess Purity, was about to be married to Prince Yuli. On the other side of the kingdom, the warlords and outer sailor scouts lived in a palace with children of their own.  The sailor scouts were also queens and the ronins, kings.

"I'm proud to announce that my daughter, Princess Purity is to wed Prince Yuli," Neo Queen Serenity said, "when I leave this world, she will rule over Crystal Tokyo and the Moon Kingdom."

Princess Purity was eighteen years old.  Her pink pigtails reached her ankles and she wore her beautiful princess gown.  Her half-sister, Rowena was her right-hand woman and protector, the same for her half brother, Vincent.  It was their job, as well as Yuli's, to keep their sister safe.

The other children of the ronins and inner scouts were also supposed to protect their future queen.  They however, did not have their powers yet because they have lived in peace for a very long time.  

Rochelle (AN: Rochelle means stone or small rock.  It works!) was the daughter of Sailor Venus and Kento of Hardrock.  She was like her father in many ways, including her looks. She had the color of her mother's blue eyes and her father's attitude and strength.  Cute she was, breath-taking beautiful she was not.  And she was okay with that.  She didn't want guys to gawk at her.  Her real beauty lay inside her strength, not her appearance.  Her hair was indigo like her father's and was kept short. Rochelle was very outgoing.  She could strike a conversation with almost anybody. No one expected her to show interest in boys, but she was her mother's daughter and she flirts and teases with Yuli every now and then.  Of course, she did know completely that Rini and he were deeply in love.  Not to mention, she was a tomboy and never liked girly clothes.  Her Father had given her his orange bandana for luck.

Joy was the daughter of Sailor Mercury and Sai of Torrent.  She and Rochelle were best friends.  Because both of her parents were shy, so was she.  Joy was quiet and shy, especially of boys. She hardly said a word to anyone, which was probably why she and Rochelle became friends.  Rochelle was very outgoing and when _anyone_ even looked at Joy wrongly, Rochelle made him or her regret the day they were born.  Joy had her father's skill of cooking and her mother's intellect and knowledge of medicine.  She had her mother's blackish-blue hair that reached her shoulders. Her eyes were the same trustful green as her father's.  Like her parents, she also did not intend to fight.

Robyn was the daughter of Sailor Mars and Ryo of Wildfire. Her black hair with purple highlights was kept in an unusual hairstyle: angled from the left to the right.  The hair on her left reached down to her jaw joint and angled down to her right shoulder and she had her mother's bangs. It made her look fearless.  Her eyes were dark blue.  She was just as hotheaded as her parents and got depressed easily like her father.  (I read somewhere that Ryo gets depressed a lot.  Isn't that one of his weaknesses?)  She inherited her skill of fire-reading able to sense danger.  She did not get along well with Rowena very much because both their mothers and fathers argued a lot too. She used to like Yuli, but he didn't like her, though she _was_ his favorite ronin's daughter.  They only pay off as friends. She was jealous because Princess Purity asked her sister to protect her and made it out to look like she was to be the leader.  She was also jealous because Vincent liked Rowena and didn't notice her.  Though she sometimes acted cruel, there was a kind girl behind the fiery exterior.

Phyllis (it means green bough or leaf.  It works if you ask me!) was the daughter of Sailor Jupiter and Sage of the halo. Tough like her mother, calm like her father, Phyllis was a very skilled fighter.  She had her father's violet eyes and mother's brown hair in a lighter shade of brown.  Her hair fell down between her shoulders with a tuft of hair that covered her left eye, just like her father.  Two inches on the end of her hair she kept it back, very loosely in a gold band and her long ringlets dangled around, just like her mother's had. She also was a skilled cook and tall like her mother. Her meditating like her father and her mother's toughness made her the strongest, next to Rochelle. Flirtatious like her mother, she was pretty good friends with both Vincent and Yuli and other boys.  Because their father's were best friends, she and Rowena were good friends, though Phyllis knew she could never take the place of her sister.

They all waited to become sailor scouts, though Joy did not really look forward to fighting and Rochelle did not want to wear the mini skirted outfit.  Phyllis just hoped that she didn't have to fight something completely dark and evil. For Robyn, she didn't want anything to get in her way.

"I want to thank you all for coming," Princess Purity said, "I--oh!"  A dark cloud went over the palace and a wicked familiar laugh entered the room.

"Queen Beryl," Neo Queen Serenity snarled, "you've come back from the dead."

"Not quite," a young woman, who looked a lot like Queen Beryl, appeared.  "I am Princess Jade, daughter of Queen Beryl.  You killed her!" Her was hair curly and white with red streaks that fell around her bottom.  She wore a black dress that resembled the one Queen Beryl had wore. "You remember, Neo Queen Serenity, what my mother did to you centuries ago?"

"Unfortunately," she hissed.  

"Well, I've come to finish where my mother left off," she said, "I'm going to do Princess Purity and her precious prince what my mother did to you and Prince Endiymoon!"

Princess Purity gasped as she leaned against her true love and he held her close.  Whiteblaze growled at the young woman as he stepped in front of the couple protectively.

Jade smiled evilly as she held her palm up.  Her fingernails were long and painted black with a green streak.  An energy blast started to grow in her palm as she started to walk to Princess Purity.

Not a moment too soon, Rowena unleashed an arrow and it went though her hand, "That will be close enough!" she snarled, "come any closer and my next arrow will go right through your skull!"

Masked Phoenix threw a golden rose at her foot.  "You'd better believe what she says!"

"Good aim, Rowena!" Phyllis cried.

"Ah," Jade muttered, "you're Neo Queen Serenity's other child, aren't you?"

"Keep away from my sister!" Rowena reached for another arrow, "I'm warning you!"

"Young lady, you have stepped into a place where you are not welcome," Luther began.  "Only good spirits can dwell here."

"Enough, old man!" she sent a powerful energy blast straight at him with her good hand.  He wasn't quick enough to defend his self.  He screamed in pain and fell face down.

"No, Luther!" Rowena screamed, running to him and kneeling at his side.  She turned him around and shook him.  "Luther, speak to me!  Are you all right?"

"Yes," he groaned, "oh, I'm getting too old for this."

"You need rest," Ami said, kneeling next to him.  "She could've killed you."

"I will kill all you in time!" Jade growled, "You will all soon perish!"

"Who is your father anyway?" Yuli demanded.

"Tulpa, of course," Jade replied, "who else?"

"That's sick!" Kento groaned as everyone gasped.

"Oh yes," Jade said, "I am the daughter of Tulpa and Queen Beryl and I have come for revenge!"

"You have no right to be here," King Endiymoon said, "now leave!"

"Very well, I'll leave," Jade muttered, holding her injured hand, "but I'll return!  Very soon and I will take everything you own!"  In a puff of dark smoke, she disappeared.

Princess Purity sobbed into Yuli's chest.  

"Don't worry, Rini," Rowena said, trying to calm her sister down.  "I'll make sure she won't get to you."

"Me too," Vincent said, "your brother will take care of everything."

"And don't forget about me," Yuli breathed.  "She's only the daughter of the worst enemies we've ever had…we can beat her."

Rochelle growled and punched a wall; "I hate it when somebody crashes the party!"

"Rochelle!" Mina scolded.

"Sorry," she mumbled.  "It just makes me so mad!" she punched it again, "okay, I think I feel better."

Mina sighed and looked at her husband, "it's you she takes after."

"Rochelle, remind me to get you a punching bag, alright?" Kento asked.

"What do we do, your majesty?" Raye asked.

"I think it's time your girls become sailor scouts," Neo Queen Serenity replied.

"Yes!" Robyn cried, "I've been waiting all my life for this."

"Do we really have to fight?" Joy asked with a small whisper.

"You are _not_ forcing me to wear that silly little costume!" Rochelle snarled, "why not our father's armors, or the new sailor armors?"

"That will come in time," Mina said, "We all had to start with the first sailor costumes."

"But Mother, oh, man," she groaned, sounding like her father.

"Don't worry, Rochelle," Kento said, "I'm not so pleased about you wearing those things either.  They're too revealing!"

"You didn't say anything about them before," Mina said.

"That was different," Kento said, placing his hands on Rochelle, "this is our daughter we're talking about here!  I don't want her frolicking around in a little miniskirt!  What if a young man sees her?"

"Well, she does have the spirit of Venus with in her," Mina said, "She's surrounded by love and beauty."

"I also have the spirit of hardrock, don't forget that!" she folded her arms.

"Think of it this way, Rochelle," Mina said, "you're the beautiful warrior of strength."

"I prefer butt kicking warrior of strength!" she bellowed and Kento hollered with laughter.

"Relax, Rochelle," Phyllis said, "we'll get our armors too, just like Rowena."

"We've been saving these for the right moment.  That moment is now." Neo Queen Serenity picked up a white case with an image of big crystal on the top. She opened it to reveal four transformation pens.   "My four wonderful scouts, will you do the honors?" 

The four queens changed from their human queen form into their sailor scout form.

 "Sailor Mercury, since you were the first sailor to join me, I'll let you go first."

Sailor Mercury nodded.  She walked up to the front and reached inside the case to pull out the blue transformation pen.  In the crystal at the top had the symbol of Mercury and the symbol of trust. She walked to her daughter and held it out.

Joy bit her lip and hesitated, looking up at her father questionably.

"You're a sailor scout," Sailor Mercury said.

Joy shakily took the transformation pen and sighed.

"You'll only have to fight when you need to," Sai said, "and when you do, fight your best."

Joy nodded, not knowing what to say.

"Mars, it is your turn," Neo Queen Serenity said.

Mars walked up to take the red pen with the symbol of Mars and Virtue in the crystal.  Sailor Mars smiled as she placed it her daughter's hand.

"I've waited a long time for this," Robyn confessed with a smile, "hard for me to believe it's actually happening."

"Same here," her parents said in unison.

"Jupiter."

Sailor Jupiter uncrossed her arms and walked up to pick up the green transformation pen with the symbol of Jupiter and Wisdom.  Her daughter waited patiently for her by her father and took the pen with a calm hand.

With a smile, Jupiter placed a hand on her shoulder, "It's important for you to stay strong. Stick up for your friends and if _anyone_ picks on your sailor friends, thrash them, understand!"

"Lita," Sage mumbled.

"Well, as the Soldier of protection," Jupiter revised, "you have to protect your buddies because they're all you have."

"I understand," Phyllis said with a nod.

"Finally, Venus."

Sailor Venus walked up to the case to take the last pen.  It was orange in color with the symbols of both Venus and justice inside the crystal.  She walked to her daughter and placed it in her waiting hand, though Rochelle was not too thrilled in becoming a sailor.  She could kick butt much better without wearing a mini-skirt!

"I also want you to take this," Venus took the red ribbon from her hair.

"Mina, her hair's too short," Kento whispered in her ear, "how's Rochelle supposed to wear it?"

"Yeah," Rochelle said, "and I'm wearing Pop's head band."  {AN: As a tough girl, I thought it would sound better for her to call her father Pop instead of 'Daddy!'}

"Well, maybe you can put underneath your hair like this," she placed it at the nap of her neck and tied it in a bow on her forehead, "oh, you look so darling?"

Kento tried not to laugh, "My dear, how is she supposed to be intimidating wearing that?"

"That bow gave me good luck!" she cried.

"Pop, do something!" Rochelle grumbled, "I am not fighting with this ribbon on my head!"

Kento placed his hands on his daughter's shoulders, "Just wear it like this for now and then you can use it as a knee band later on."  He whispered.

"Good idea!" Rochelle replied with a smile.

"Now, let me you see give the 'V' symbol," Sailor Venus encouraged, "like this!" 

Rochelle sighed and did the same.

"Now," Neo Queen Serenity said, "all you have to say is the magic words."  She looked at her daughter, Rowen who was in her ronin warrior armor, "Rowena, why don't you start them off?"

Rowena nodded, "okay." Her armor shed away and held up her brooch. "Moon Strata Power!"

"Mercury Torrent Power!"

"Mars Wildfire Power!"

"Jupiter Halo Power!"

"Venus Hardrock Power!"

Rowena held her arms across her chest and held her face up as she twirled around.  The pink ribbons came upon her first and in her next turn they changed into her white bodysuit, white skirt with a royal blue, gold and pink stripe and royal blue boots.  On the tips of the boots were the moon symbols and on the insteps of her boots were symbols of the strata armor.  Her gloves were white with the dark blue kanji symbol of life on the back of the hands and the glove bands were royal blue. Her bows were indigo and her back flap red. Rowena's earrings were the studs of the gold diamonds (that gold diamond thing on Rowen's helmet) connected by pearls to the upturned crescents. Her choker was blue with the gold diamond ornament on her father's helmet.  Rubies attached to feathers appeared on her buns with the pearly feathers on the side of her head. She ended with the classic Sailor Moon pose, behind her, the upturned moon was combined with the kanji of life.

Joy swung her pen around as bubbles and a current of water hit up at her. Bubbles appeared on her body to form her outfit. Her skirt was light blue and her boots light blue with an indigo stripe on the top.  Her back flap was also light blue and the bows dark blue.  The bands of her gloves were light blue with the kanji of trust imprinted on top the hands.  Her golden tiara went over her forehead with a sapphire after the kanji of trust appeared with the symbol of Mercury.  Inside the light blue gem of her bow was the kanji symbol of trust.  Her light choker had the yin-yang sign of torrent armor. Joy became Sailor Torrent Mercury with both her arms down in front of her, on hand clasped onto her elbow as she looked to the side. The symbol of Mercury was intertwined with the kanji sign of trust.  Her earrings looked like blue bubbles.

Fire surrounded Robyn and went down the angle of her hair, as if cutting off imaginary hair that was long like her mother's.  Flames started dancing all over her body to form her sailor outfit. Her outfit looked like her mothers, though different with the kanji symbol of virtue on the gloves and the symbol of the wildfire armor on the toes of her high heels.  Inside the red gem between her purple bow was the kanji symbol of virtue.  On her red choker was the four-diamond diagram of wildfire. The kanji symbol of virtue and the Mars symbol appeared upon her forehead.  Her earrings, the shape of flames, and tiara appeared.  She turned to the side with her hand on her hip, as she became Sailor Wildfire Mars.  Behind her the Mars symbol and kanji of virtue combined. 

Phyllis held her pen up high as a ring of light swirled up above her and leaves and lightning surrounded all around her.  From the light, her old princess dress melted away as leaves covered her to form the sailor uniform.  Her skirt and back flap was deep green as the color of her boots with the symbol of the halo armor on the side of the boots.  Her bows were sugar pink and her kanji of wisdom appeared on her gloves with dark green bands.  Her green gem on her bow had the kanji of wisdom inside.  Her earrings were thunderbolts as the same thunderbolt on her choker.  Her tiara appeared on her forehead after the kanji symbol of wisdom and the sign of Jupiter. Behind her, as she became Sailor Halo Jupiter, the sign of Jupiter and the kanji of symbol of wisdom appeared in Jupiter's classic pose.

Rochelle was surrounded with orange hearts as she was hovering over what looked like a desert.  The hearts formed her sailor uniform.  Her skirt, glove bands and back flap were dark orange and her bows brown. Her heels were medium orange and the bands around her ankles had the sign of the hardrock armor.  The kanji of justice appeared on her white gloves and inside the orange gem inside her bow.  On her orange choker appeared the sign of the hardrock armor.  Her earrings were orange hearts.  As the kanji of trust appeared with the symbol of Venus, she decided to end the sequence differently and Robyn became Sailor Hardrock Venus with crossed arms and the girly red bow around her knee.

"Hey, we look pretty good," Sailor Halo Jupiter commented first.

"I think I got a wedgie!" Sailor Hardrock Venus complained, reaching behind her.  "Someone _please _shoot me!"

Sailor Torrent Mercury sighed and felt the material of her uniform just to see if it was real.

"Sailor Strata Moon," said Princess Purity, "come forward, my sister."

Sailor Strata Moon nodded, "yes, my princess and my sister?" she said as she took a knee.

"As my sister and the most skilled sailor of the sailors of the next generation--"

"Rini, you were a sailor scout before me," Sailor Strata Moon interrupted with a smile.

"True," she said, returning the smile, "but your father is a ronin warrior.  You're better than me even. I want you to lead the next generation of scouts and if and when they get armors of their own, still lead them as the next generation of ronin warriors."

"As you wish, my sister," Sailor Strata Moon accepted vocally, though mentally, she wasn't sure if she could do it.

"What?!" screamed Sailor Wildfire Mars, "you choose her only because she's your 

sister! My father was the leader of the ronins warriors, I should--"

Ryo and Raye turned their gaze at their angry daughter.

"Sailor Wildfire Mars that will be enough.  I understand your father was the leader of the ronins," Princess Purity said firmly, "call me biased if you will, but my sister will lead.  She is the strongest and most experience of you all.  Any other comments?"

"I agree with you princess," Sailor Halo Jupiter said, nodding to Strata Moon, "she's the best scout for the job!"

"Brownnoser," Sailor Wildfire Mars grumbled under her breath.

"Ladies and Gentlemen and warriors of all kinds," Princess Purity announced, "applaud for the leader of the next generation of scouts and ronins, my sister--my best friend--Sailor Strata Moon!"

Sailor Wildfire Mars stood there and didn't clap her hands but her father looked at her as if to say, 'Applaud for her," so she sighed and clapped her hands and _pretended_ like she _was_ happy for Sailor Strata Moon.

Sailor Strata Moon stood up as the applause echoed all around her.  She couldn't believe it.  Why her?  How was she going to protect her sister if she was training the new scouts and leading them into battle when her sister was at the palace?  Could she count on Vincent and Yuli? She looked around the place, feeling as if she was living some sort of dream.  Her father was not the leader of the ronins, but her mother was the leader of the scouts.  She was the most experienced of them all and her father, though not the leader, he should have been.  (I honestly think that Rowen SHOULD have been the leader!)  Rowen of the Strata was a very powerful ronin, maybe equally powerful if not more than Ryo of the Wildfire.  Life comes before virtue, trust, justice and wisdom.  Air came before the fire and water and ground and light.  As she looked at everyone's eyes, a pair caught her own.  They were her father's eyes.  He looked at her as if to say, 'you've made me proud.'  After seeing that look in Rowen's eyes, the more dedicated she felt about taking this assignment and harder she wanted to work.

'I'll make you proud of me, Daddy,' Sailor Strata Moon thought, 'I'll do my best to make you proud of me'

**********************************************************


	2. Powers of the Seasons

Meaning Of Life 2 Terry Dale Terry Dale 8 70 2001-09-21T15:47:00Z 2001-10-20T03:12:00Z 9 3342 19054 none 158 38 23399 9.3821 0 0 

**Meaning Of Life 2**

**Powers of the Seasons**

On the other side of the kingdom lived the warlords and outers with their children. Although they would be with the others to guard Princess Purity, there was someone else they had to protect. They had to protect the last descendant of the ancient clan, Prince Zircon, son of Lady Kayura and Prince Diamond.  (AN: Ha, didn't see that coming, did you?  Thought since I wrote a story about her and Pegasus you'd think they'd end up together? Well, I surprised you, didn't I?… Okay, I'll continue now…)

Four sailor scouts, not the outers, stood on the castle wall on every other post. They were in their late teens. They were the children of the warlords and outers: The seasonal sailors.

The one standing on the far left had black hair that fell down past her shoulders with thick ringlets down to her collarbone.  Her black eyebrows were forked and her eyes were greenish-blue.  Her skirt, boots, and glove bands were lavender and her bows pastel yellow.  Her choker was purple decorated with what looked like a raindrop.  On her hands had a yellow kanji symbol: Loyalty.  In her hand she held the silence scythe. Her name: Sailor Spring, the daughter of Sailor Saturn and the man who used to be warlord of Cruelty, the ogre, Anubis.  She had her mother's ability to heal and her father's sense of loyalty, including an uncanny ability of telekinesis.

The next had long and wavy light brown hair that fell around her shoulders and she kept it in front her right shoulder in a small piece of ribbon. Her eyes were gray and she was the tallest of the four. Her sailor uniform was in bright, vibrant colors.  She had a great tan.  The skirt, glove bands, back flap and boots were bright blue and her bows bright pink. The kanji symbols of serenity were emblazoned on her hands. Her choker was bight blue with a golden sun. She held in her hand a scimitar.  She was the daughter of Sailor Uranus and the once warlord of Illusion, the tarantula, Dais and her name was Sailor Summer.  She spoke low and echoing, like her father.   Also like her father, she also had the power to cast illusions.

The next scout had wavy long green hair that fell down the middle of her back.  Her eyes were black with a hint of sea green.  The skirt, glove bands, boots and back flap were dark green and the bows dark red.  She had an olive complexion. The kanji symbol of piety was on her hands. Her choker was dark green with a yellow-green leaf. Strapped to her waist was the aqua mirror. Sailor Autumn was her name and she was the daughter of Sailor Neptune and Sekhmet, the warlord of Venom.   She had the ability to heal but in battle, she could unleash an attack of poison like her father. 

Finally, the last scout had long blue hair that reached her knees with a tuft of hair in front ears, keeping them uncovered.  Her bangs looked spiky and wild.  And her eyes were a very cold shade of blue.  Her complexion was very fair, almost totally white with a soft blue tinge.  Her skin was always cold to the touch, though it did not seem to bother her.  The skirt, boots, back flap and bands were dark gray in color and the bows were maroon. The kanji symbol obedience was on her gloves in black.  On her black choker, was a decoration of a shard of ice. In her hand, she held the garnet rod. The warlord of corruption, Kale and Sailor Pluto were her parents and her name was Sailor Winter.  Like her mother, she could stop time.  But her power held out longer and she could also turn back time or make it go faster if she wanted to.  If she was especially angry, she could send someone to another time and place without even having to travel to the gate.  She could turn day into night and warmth into the bitter cold and one touch of her hand could send chills down one spine.  Like her father, she could also save those who had fallen to the darkness and see perfectly in complete darkness during a blizzard.  She also held an uncanny ability to tell a person of darkness with just by looking at them.  Sailor Spring could also do this, but only through touch.

"Sure is quiet tonight," commented Sailor Summer.

"Boring too," Sailor Autumn yawned.

"I see something," Sailor Winter muttered.

"What do you see?" Sailor Spring asked.

"Someone," she replied, "an intruder.  She brings trouble."

"Halt!" Shouted Sailor Summer, "who goes there?"

No answer.

"I demand you tell us who you are!" Sailor Autumn snarled.

The footsteps closer and a foot stepped over a dried leaf. A girl with long white hair with red streaks came closer.  "I am Jade.  The daughter of your father's perished lord."

"What did she say?" Sailor Spring mumbled.

"Don't mock us," Sailor Winter said.

"I'm not mocking you," Jade told them, "I'm here to ask you to serve me as your fathers served mine."

"She's insane," Sailor Summer muttered.

"Our fathers," mumbled Sailor Spring and she looked at her fellow sailors, "I think she means Tulpa!"

"Your father is Emperor Tulpa?!" demanded Sailor Autumn in a shout, looking as if she was about to be sick.  The others gasped.

"Was," Jade said, "but the ronin warriors destroyed them!  I am going to have revenge for that, blood for blood! And _you're_ going to help me!"

"Not a chance," Sailor Spring said, "We are friends with Neo Queen Serenity and we won't betray her!"

"We're not going to help you avenge someone our fathers helped destroy!" Sailor Autumn growled.  "Now be off with you!"

"Especially since our fathers have trouble sleeping at night because of what your father forced them to do!" Sailor Summer added with a sneer.

"We won't do it!" Sailor Winter cried, "our fathers have changed since then."

"I'm afraid you have no choice!" Jade snapped.

"How dare you speak that way to us!" Sailor Summer growled.

"If you won't come voluntarily," Jade clenched her hands into fists, "then I'll have to force you!" she sent a massive energy blast at the scouts and they leapt of the wall.

"You'll have to do this without our help," Sailor Summer said.

"What you reap is what you sow," Sailor Spring began.

"And your harvesting time is about to end!" Sailor Autumn finished.

"Oh, I'm scared!" Jade whined sarcastically.

"You'd better be!" Sailor Summer snarled, "Summer Heat Drought!"  She sent an intense heat wave that dried up the grass and flowers, draining all the moisture and smacked Jade with the enormous heat wave.

Jade groaned as she stumbled back, "you'd think you could stop me with a little lack of moisture?"

Summer grunted under her breath.

"Then how about an abundance of moisture?" Sailor Spring demanded, "Spring Rain Pour!" The clouds rumbled with thunder and it began to pour like crazy, the raindrops fell so hard that they felt like knives.

Jade fell to her knees and began to sink in the mud.  

"Autumn Venom Leaf Smother!" Sailor Autumn sent a blow of wind and poisonous leaves to Jade and once they touched her, they began to burn her skin and bury her alive.

"Winter Bitter Blizzard Blast!" A very piercing cold gale of wind blasted at Jade with snowballs the size of rocks and continued to bury her in a frozen grave.

"Mess with the seasonal sailor scouts, will you?" Sailor Spring demanded.

The snow began to melt and a pair of red eyes that were once green started burning.  Jade stood up with a growl, "you can't defeat me!  You _will_ serve me or die!"

The seasonal sailors cringed and closed their eyes.

Inside the castle, the outers wondered where the girls were.  They could hear the commotion outside.

"You think the girls are alright?" Hotaru asked her husband.

"I'm sure they're fine," Anubis answered, "they're probably training outside."

"I'll go check on them," Hotaru opened the door just in time to see the girls crash inside, Autumn through the door and Spring and Summer through the left wall and Winter through the right.

"Girls!" Pluto shouted, "Priscilla!"

"What is going on?" Kale demanded.

"We're being invaded!" Sailor Winter replied with a shout as she got to her feet.

"By whom?" asked Sekhmet.

"Her!" replied Sailor Autumn, pointing to the figure outside.

Jade walked in, "aw, what a lovely home.  Too bad I'll have to turn it into ruins!"

"She's the daughter of Tulpa," Spring answered with a wince.  "I don't know who her mother is."

"That's right, I didn't tell you did I?" Jade demanded with a sneer, "my mother was Queen Beryl!"

Trista gasped, "She tried to destroy Princess Serenity!"

"My mother did at one time," Jade said, "but that twit was reborn.  She tried to destroy her a second time but you stood in her way!" she pointed her fingers at the warlords, "traitors!  You betrayed my father!  I will punish you by death!"

"You have no right to be here!" Lady Kayura shouted, "Leave now or we will kill you."  

Behind her stood her son, Prince Zircon.  He had short blue hair shaped like Sapphires with many white highlights. He was a tall and handsome eighteen-year-old boy. His eyes were long with a deep violet and his had his father's long sharp nose. On his forehead was a silver four-pointed star. He wore a blue and white suit similar to the one his father wore.  He looked on in surprise.

Jade stepped back, "wait, you're Lady Kayura."

"That's right."

"You were my father's best servant," Jade said.

"Actually, I was more like his toy!" Lady Kayura sneered, "He made puppets out of me and the warlords!"

"Who's that?" Jade asked, cocking her head.

Zircon folded his arms, "why should I tell you?"

"Wait, he's your son, isn't he?" a grin spread across her face,  "I didn't know there was a new member of the ancient clan."  An ice shared appeared in her hand.

Zircon took a few steps back, "what do you want?" he asked.

Jade jumped with the ice shard in hand, close to stabbing Zircon.  Zircon tightned his fist, beginning to form an energy blast to protect himself.

"Stop her, somebody!" Sailor Summer cried.

"Frozen in Time!" Sailor Winter shouted.

Time stopped and Jade was an ice sculpture in the air.  Zircon pulled his hand down and it stopped glowing.

"Good work, sweetheart," Kale said, thinking she stopped time.

"But Kale, it wasn't me," Trista mumbled innocently.

"But if you didn't, who did?" Kale asked.

They looked at their daughter and smiled, "our daughter."  Trista answered.

"Run, your highness!" Sailor Winter ordered, "now while my power holds out!"

"Thank you, Sailor Winter," Zircon didn't wait another moment and fled to a secret passage way.

The ice melted and Jade fell down.  Sailor Winter lowered her staff and winced as Spring wrapped her arm around her.

"Are you alright?" Spring asked.

"I won't be able to do that again for a while," Winter said.

"Have you cooled down enough?" Sailor Summer inquired.  "Would you like me to warm you up?"

Jade rose to her feet, "where is he?" she demanded.

"Why would we tell you?" Diamond questioned.  "We will not let you harm him or our soldiers!"

"Your son may be safe for the moment," Jade said, "but your soldiers won't!  This is your punishment for refusing to side with me!"

"What are you going to--" Spring started to say.  Winter could not freeze time again because she used up her strength to do it.  Jade removed their sailor uniforms, turning them into harmless mortals.

"Our powers!" gasped Sailor Summer, now Gwen.

"Enough of this!" Kayura swung the staff around and as it jingled, Jade gasped and disappeared.

"She's gone," Chloe, Spring said.

"I suppose she's afraid of the ancient's staff," Priscilla commented, who was once Sailor Winter.

"I don't think we've seen the last of her," Diamond said.

"As Beryl's daughter," Trista said, "I'm sure she's after Princess Purity too."

"But how can we stop her?" Ivy, Autumn asked. "She took our powers.  We can't transform anymore." (Ivy, like Poison Ivy?!  Thought it went well.)

"We will talk about this later," Kale said, "we'll think of something.  You girls must be exhausted."

"Yes, go and get some rest," Trista said.

Pricilla sighed, "all right then."  They trekked to their quarters.  As Priscilla got into her room, Zircon was waiting for her there on her chair.  "Your highness." Priscilla mumbled.

"I've been through all these passages a lot that I found one to your room," He said.

"I'd better put a lock on it," she joked and smiled, "is there something I can do for you?"

"I just wanted to thank you for saving me back there," Zircon said.  "I'm sure it took a lot of your strength."

"At least I'm not punished the same when my mother stops time," Pricilla said. "However, Jade took away our powers so we cannot transform.  We cannot protect you."

"I'm sure you'll find a way," he said as he stood up. He smiled, "thank you, Pricilla."  

He slid the back of his fingers on her cheek.  Priscilla flinched.  His hands were _warm._  

"You're cold," he whispered.

"I'm always cold," she said, "my father used to be the warlord of corruption, you know."

"But you're _not_ cold," Zircon told her, "what you did back there was a not a cold thing but a warm thing to do.  It's only your body that is cold but your heart is warm."

"Prince Zircon, I--" Priscilla mumbled and he silenced her by placing a finger to her lips, now turning a soft shade of blue.  

"Even your lips are cold," he said, "but I bet they are sweet."

Priscilla breathed in deeply.  She always had a special place for Zircon in her frozen heart though she thought he didn't love her.  

Priscilla closed her eyes and a tear formed in her eye. As it fell down her cheek, it froze.  Zircon took the frozen tear and looked at it.  It was still frozen even in his warm hand.  Holding it, he leaned forward and placed his thumb over Pricilla's chin and kissed her.  Pricilla's eyes fluttered rapidly and slowly reached her frozen hand to Zircon's cheek.  She feared of freezing him but he stayed with her and kissed her forehead.  

"Y-your highness, I--," Priscilla said and cleared her through, "you're welcome.  It was my pleasure to save you from certain death.  It is my job to protect you, you know."

"I've always loved you," he admitted.

"You have?" she asked, her smile widening, "really?"

He nodded.

"I love you too, my prince."  She bit her lip, "I just wish there was some way for me to protect you. That Jade woman will be back and we'll be helpless."

He smiled, "Don't let that worry you.  I'm not entirely helpess." 

"I just like…serving you," she said.  "I'll do anything for you, Zircon."

"Yes, I know." He opened his hand to see the tear still frozen in his hand.  "Mind if I hold onto this?"

Pricilla let out a short laugh, "of course not, your highness.  Keep it to remember me, in case something happens to me.  Make a necklace out of it if you wish.""

He took her hand and kissed it as he wished her sweet dreams and left.

A wave of warmth instead of coldness hit her and she shivered in surprise, used to being cold.  Sighing, she wrapped her arms around herself, "Zircon," and fell down on her bed, trying to keep herself from giggling.

"Your Majesty," Pluto said, sending a message to Neo Queen Serenity's mirror.

"Sailor Pluto?" Neo Queen Serenity gasped, "so good to hear from you!"

"Have you seen a girl named Jade?" she asked.

Neo Queen Serenity sighed, "unfortunately.  She plans to destroy my home and my daughter Princess Purity.  Has she harmed anyone?"

"No, but she has taken away our new scout's ability to transform," Sailor Pluto said, 

"She is after Prince Zircon too.  She wanted to turn our girls against us and serve her because their fathers served hers."

"How dare she even think of it," Neo Queen Serenity hissed, "are they all right?"

"Yes, they'll be fine but they are unable to protect Prince Zircon," Pluto said, "We'll need the help of your new scouts. I trust you have given them the new transformation pens."

Neo Queen Serenity nodded, "we felt it was time the moment Jade came unannounced. Our new scouts will help you.  Yuli and Vincent can protect Princess Purity while they are away.  Together, Pluto, we will get through this.  Jade cannot be all that powerful, can she?  Can we stop her?"

"Jade nearly killed our girls after they refused to side with her," Pluto reported, "and they thought they stopped her when they fought.  I regret to say as the daughter of a demon king and an evil queen, Jade will probably the most powerful enemy we will have to face."

Neo Queen Serenity breathed a sigh of anxiety and tried to keep a firm face, "well, we destroyed her parents, we can destroy her.  Our scouts will win. We have to believe that. I'll tell our scouts immediately."

"Thank you, your majesty," the image of Pluto disappeared.

Neo Queen Serenity stood up and went to the throne room to give the scouts the message.  They were surprised.

"You will leave tomorrow morning," she said. "Yuli, Vincent and the rest of us will protect Princess Purity while you are away."

"Wouldn't it be easier if we found out where she was hiding?" Sailor Strata Moon asked, "If we find her home then we can ambush her."

"But we don't know where her home is," Neo Queen Serenity replied.

"Maybe I should go," Princess Purity said.

"No, it's too dangerous!" Yuli cried.

"It's me she's after," Princess Purity explained, "I should be in on it.  After all, it's my fight too."

"My sister," Sailor Strata Moon said, "you asked me to lead the new scouts and that's what I'm going to do.  Don't tell me you're going to change your mind."

"If this gets to be too much," Princess Purity said, "I may have to join." She smiled, 

"You're right, I did ask you to do this and I have complete faith in you.  I will leave it up to you for now.  Good luck."

"Thank you," Sailor Strata Moon smiled.

*****************************

Sailor Strata Moon sat on the post of the palace wall and sighed.

"I thought I might find you here," Masked Phoenix said.  Now at eighteen, he had a goatee without a mustache.  It made him look very manly and would make Rowena swoon if she wasn't so distant from him.  

{AN: I decided to give him a little facial hair.  He already has a ponytail, why not add some facial hair?  Besides, Mia's half French, so that would make Vincent part French too and French guys have mustaches and goatees!}

"Masked Phoenix, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"Making sure you don't freeze," he took off his cape and put it around her shoulders.  "I wish you didn't have to go."

"You know what our sister said," she retorted.  "I have to go."  She stood up, his cape falling down around her ankles, "the girls only have been scouts for a few hours and they know nothing about battle. I have to lead them."

"Then I'll go with you," he said simply.  "It's dangerous out there."

"No!" she turned around, "You can't, you have to stay here and take care of Rini!"

"Yuli can protect her," he said,  "Let me protect you."

"You can't come, Masked Phoenix," Sailor Strata Moon said, "Rini told me to lead the new scouts and I'm going to do it for my sis---"

"Rini is my sister too!" he snapped.

"Then you have to stay behind and protect her," Sailor Strata Moon whispered, "Don't you understand, Vincent? It was Rini that brought us together.  If anything happens to her, then we will fall apart.  I don't need you to protect me.  I'll be fine!  Rini is in worse danger than I am!"  She turned back around and Masked Phoenix tried to get close to her but she pushed him away.  "Our sister needs you more than I do."

"I don't believe you," he said.

"Don't make this hard, Vincent," she sniffed, "You were _ordered_ to stay.  It's important that we go to the other castle.  Zircon is the last of the ancient clan.  You know what danger we would be if he dies?  It is also my duty to protect him as much it is to protect Rini.  This is the way is has to be, Vincent.  I don't need you.  I don't need anyone."

"Rowena, you don't mean that," he said, reaching for her arm.

She wrenched her arm away, "Don't touch me.  I am a sailor scout and a ronin warrior.  I can't be a fighter and be with you at the same time.  Just leave me alone, okay?" she turned around and left him.

Masked Phoenix sighed, fearing that it will be the last time he would see Rowena or Sailor Strata Moon again.  'Rowena,' he thought, 'Tuxedo Mask always showed up at the right time to save your mother and the scouts.  Love will always bring me closer to you so don't expect me to stay behind for long.'

Yuli noticed him standing out by himself.  "Hey, she wasn't in the mood for goodbyes, huh?"

Masked Phoenix shook his head.  "I wanted her to stay or at least let me go with her.  Have you noticed a change in her?"

Yuli shrugged, "Hey, she has a lot to think about.  Leading a group isn't very easy you know."

"She just keeps pushing me away."

"She'll realize how much you mean to her," Yuli said.  "Lighten up, man!" he slapped him in the back.  "Rini wants to play a game."

He forced a smile, "thanks, Yuli."

Sailor Strata Moon ran to the orchard, her tears falling down her cheeks.  Luther was there tending to the trees. "Luther!" she shouted and stopped in surprise, "are you all right?  Why are you working in the orchard after Jade almost killed you?"

"I am all right," he said, "why are you up at this hour of night?  You have a long journey ahead of you."

She fell at his feet, "Luther, I need your help!" she cried, "I don't know if I have what it takes to do this mission!" she covered face with her hands.

"There, there now," he said, kneeling down before her, "dry your eyes."

Sailor Strata Moon dried her eyes with the back of her hand, what little use it did as more tears spilled from her eyes.  She sniffed and looked at the kanji of symbol of life on her hand. She looked at it wonderingly. "Life sucks."  She muttered.

"My child, I never expected you to speak in such a way," Luther said with a grim smile.  He didn't yell at her for saying such a phrase, as most parents would have.  He was surprised but also a little impressed that she was being truthful about herself.  "What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," she blushed and cleared her throat, "what I meant was, life's not fair."

"Ah, I know, I know," he agreed, "Life can be confusing at times."

"Do I have it in me to lead the next generation of sailor scouts?" She asked, "Robyn's jealous of me.  I know my mother was Sailor Moon and she led the last sailor scouts, but she didn't want to be a sailor scout in the first place or even the moon princess.  She wasn't very good at first."

"But she got better, didn't she?" Luther asked.  "She learned an important lesson in life, to fight for love and justice."

"And my father, he wasn't the leader of the ronin warriors," Sailor Strata Moon mumbled, "Ryo of the Wildfire was."

"But he was a valuable member, wasn't he?" Luther put out, "he also learned a lesson in life, to save his friends, even if it costs himself his own life."

"What's my lesson, Luther?" she inquired, "what's my meaning in life?  Can you tell me, Luther, the meaning of life?  Can you?"

"My dear child, that is one thing I cannot tell you," Luther told her, "you'll have to find the meaning of life by yourself."

"You think I will?" she asked, a frown appearing on her face.

"Of course," he said with a smile, "you do, of course, carry the soul of life within you.  You'll figure it out soon, my child and you'll learn things the moment you let another arrow of life force fly."

"You're right," Sailor Strata Moon stood up, "Thank you, Luther."


	3. Born From Evil

Meaning of Life Terry Dale Terry Dale 5 723 2001-09-21T19:22:00Z 2001-10-18T23:58:00Z 8 2927 16685 none 139 33 20490 9.3821 0 0 

**Meaning of Life**

**Part 3**

**Born from Evil**

Jade sat in her dark corner of her dark world that she called home and wondered about the parents she didn't know.  They had died before she was born but it was the dark evil that made her live.

"It doesn't make sense," she mumbled to herself.

**************************************************************

Years ago, during the time Serena was Sailor Moon and Queen Beryl plotted for her death, both Queen Beryl and Tulpa started to notice a change in their minions. Queen Beryl's generals weren't working hard enough and Tulpa's warlords were not very thorough in their battles against the ronins.  

"Why must my generals be so stupid?" Queen Beryl demanded silently.  "Good help is so hard to find these days." She waved her hands over her crystal ball and saw crimson doors opening inside it, "what's this?  Hmm, another world." What she saw was the netherworld.

Tulpa learned something about a world called the Negaverse and woman named Queen Beryl lived there.  He saw an image of her and thought that she may be useful with his fight against the ronins. However, he figured that she might be a little frightened of his grotesque appearance so he changed himself to a man and entered the Negaverse without his warlords knowing.

Queen Beryl heard footsteps coming.  "Who's there?" she questioned, standing up.  "Malachite?"

The figure walked closer and she laid her eyes upon a gorgeous tall man dressed like her generals in black. He had straight white hair and red eyes that seemed to glow.  She smiled, taken back by how gorgeous he was, "Welcome to the Negaverse, stranger."  She greeted and sat down in her chair.  "Who are you?"

Tulpa paused before saying his name.  The name he bore now, 'Tulpa,' did not sound so manly.  "Percival," he replied, his voice even sounded human.  It was deep and manly. He could get used to this.  "I come from the Netherworld and I am in need of some assistance."

"Go on," she insisted, tapping her fingers on her throne.

"I have an enemy, the ronin warriors," he explained, "and they have something of mine that I want back.  I want their lives and I want their armors.  Help me fight them and then I will grant you everything your heart desires."

"I also have an enemy of my own," Queen Beryl stood up from her throne and stepped to Percival, "the sailor scouts.  There is bad blood between a certain scout and me.  Sailor Moon, the Moon Princess, has something of mine too: the silver Imperium crystal.  Perhaps the best option is for us to join forces.  My generals are useless and they continue to try my patience."

"Wait until you meet my warlords," Tulpa said.  

"Queen Beryl, I heard--," Jedite whispered and he stopped short.  "Who is he?"  The other generals stood behind him.

"This is Percival," she told them, "he is going to assist me in killing the sailor scouts so I will not have use for you anymore."

"What?" Zoicite cried.

She laughed and shot an energy blast full power at her generals, killing them.  "You are dismissed," she said with an evil smile.  She turned to Tulpa, "is there anything you want of me?"

"I will help you destroy these sailor scouts if you help me destroy the ronins," Tulpa repeated.  

"Are you sure," she slid his hand over his manly chest, "I can give you more.  Jewels?  Gold?  Me?"  Ever since Prince Darien fell in love with the Moon Princess, Queen Beryl was very jealous and angry.  All she wanted was he to love her.  He did not matter anymore. He no longer existed in her memory.  Tulpa was far better than Darien or her generals were.  She leaned in close, "you are so strong," she said wantonly.  "And handsome and powerful."

Tulpa swallowed, "Queen Beryl, have you been alone all your life?"

"Oh yes," she replied, "so utterly alone.  Can you feel the void inside my soul?"

"I too have been alone," he confessed, "for many years."

She ran her finger down his face, her fingernail almost piercing his skin. He didn't show any sign of pain.  In fact, he liked it. "I have been along too long and now I've found someone that has felt the same." Her finger reached his lips and he kissed them.  "If I'm going to be alone, Percival, I wish to be alone with you!" with that, she flung her arms around his neck and kissed him heatedly.

Surprised but pleased, Tulpa wrapped his arms around her and ran his hands up and down her back.  He lifted her up of the ground and into his arms.  She reached her fingers to his collar and began to undress him. She pointed to a corridor that led to a room with candles and a fireplace.  They undressed each other, their hands shaking with anticipation.  They lied down in front of the fireplace.  Everything was amazing for both of them.  It was intense and they liked it and wanted more.  Their lovemaking was magical, though they were both evil and didn't even know what the word 'love' meant.

He kissed her neck and shoulders as sweats smeared across his brow.  She kept wrapping his white hair around her fingers.  Moments later, they fell asleep.  Her head on her shoulder and her hair sprawled all around his chest.

Queen Beryl woke up as he started to get dressed.

"It is time to wake up, my queen," Tulpa said.  "Today I bring you to your new home, the netherworld."  He smiled and kissed her neck.  "Shall we?"

When she left the negaverse, it could no longer exist.  It was dying slowly by the minute and the moment she left, it was gone.  They made it to the temple and the moment Tulpa sat on his throne, his gorgeous manly body disappeared.  He returned to his armored demon-like self.

Queen Beryl gasped, "Percival?"

"Do not be frightened," Tulpa told her, his sexy voice changed back to the real deep and almost frightening voice.  "I am Tulpa, the emperor of the netherworld.  I regret to tell you that this is my true form."

"You're…not a man?" she mumbled.

"I used to be," he said.  "But I'm more powerful than a mortal."

She forced a smile.  Maybe he was scary to look at but his power was real.  After all, he certainly could change back to that handsome figure if he wanted to. She made a deal with him and they sealed it with more than just a simple handshake.

"Are you going to reconsider our arrangement?" he inquired.

"Of course not," she shook her head, "Percival, Tulpa, whoever you are, I made a deal with you.  I killed my generals and the Negaverse is gone.  I have no reason to change my mind. That would be foolish.  I'm staying right here with you."  She walked up and sat in the throne beside him.

Tulpa called in his warlords and Lady Kayura, "this is Queen Beryl," Tulpa told them, "she has agreed to assist us in the destruction of the ronin warriors if we destroy her enemies, the sailor scouts."

"Who are they?" Kale asked.

"They are my enemies," she explained, "they are five foolish girls and they have something that I want. I believe they will join forces with the ronins too."

"How will we know them?" Dais asked.

"Oh, you will know them," she told Dais with a sly smile.

"Lord Tulpa," Anubis said, "maybe this is not such a good idea.  How do you know if this woman can be trusted?"  

"Anubis," Lady Kayura grumbled.

"Silence!" Tulpa shouted, "she is my new queen and you will treat her with respect!" he turned to Queen Beryl.  "I apologize for my warlord's disrespectful attitude."

"Quite alright," she said to Tulpa and she stood up.  "I understand what you may be thinking with a stranger in your world but I made a deal with Lord Tulpa and I will keep my word."

Lady Kayura was the only one who seemed to welcome Queen Beryl.  She nodded to Queen Beryl, "welcome to the Netherworld, Queen Beryl." She was growing tired of being the only woman around.

Queen Beryl smiled and nodded back.

"You are dismissed," Tulpa said, "leave."

The warlords exited to the wall, wondering if Tulpa had lost his head.

Queen Beryl sighed and rested her hand on her belly, which seemed to be bigger.  "I think I'm with child," she told Tulpa.

"Perhaps our child will be a better follower than any of your generals or my warlords," Tulpa said.

"You are not angry?" she asked.

Tulpa reverted back to his human form and laid his hand over hers that rested on her belly.  "No," he said.  "I'm…happy…"

Queen Beryl smiled and held his hand with both of hers on her belly.  As she looked on her left hand, where Tulpa had touched, she saw a gold ring with a brilliant diamond inside.

Because Tulpa was not any ordinary being, the baby inside Queen Beryl was growing faster than any human baby.  Instead of taking 9 months to grow, it will only take one month (I wish pregnancy really lasted that long).  Once the child was born, he or she would be far stronger than any other mortal.

However, Queen Beryl did not have a chance to give birth.  The ronins and sailors showed up a week before her pregnancy ended.  No one knew she was pregnant except herself and Tulpa.

After the ronins and sailors stopped Tulpa and Beryl, the whole temple was empty.  The scouts and ronins escaped before the walls and ceiling caved in and the warlords and Kayura were supposedly dead.  The ancient saved them before they did die and they pulled themselves out of the rubble and left.

"Is everyone all right?" Kayura asked.

"Yes," Sekhmet replied.  The others mumbled that they were unharmed.

Anubis looked the place over, "we shouldn't stay here.  We'd better go some place safe."

"Did you hear the Ancient talk to us?" Kale inquired. "He saved us."

"Maybe we still have work that needs to be done," Dais said, "let's go before the place caves in again."  They left to find a better place to stay.

Queen Beryl's black headdress shifted across the stone ground.  It touched Tulpa's iron mask.  A girl's toes appeared aside the two items and then from toe to head, the girl appeared in a purple dress with green eyes and dark red hair with white streaks.  She was two years old and she was the daughter of Tulpa and Queen Beryl, Jade.  

Jade picked up the articles and immediately knew what just took place.  The ronins and scouts killed her parents.  She could smell the dust and fire in the room.  "I'll have revenge," she muttered.  

She took off to live in a cave and fended for herself. She had to train herself to use her powers. The lost Warlord, Mentu, came around and she became his servant.  However, the outers and the rest of the warlords killed him.  

"Pathetic," she muttered as he died.

When Sailor Saturn was going to destroy the netherworld, her only home, Jade had no choice but try to escape.

"Where do I go?" she asked herself, running through the wilderness, "damn those sailors!  I'll make them pay for this!" she saw a dimensional rift and looked back just as Sailor Saturn began to say her magic words. She looked in the tunnel and jumped inside.  Jade landed in a strange world. It was not the negaverse, but looked liked it. The negaverse was destroyed.  But it could do.  She had no other place to go.

**************************************************************

As she opened her eyes, Jade felt a tear slide down her cheek.  "Today is the day.  I'll make them pay for killing my parents, demolishing their temple and destroying my home!  My parents must be avenged!" she said.  She took her crystal ball in her hands, "let's see what Prince Zircon is up to," she said wonderingly and an image of him sleeping soundly appeared in her crystal ball, "ah, you're asleep.  I won't wake you up just yet.  You look so peaceful."  

She began calling for him in a hypnotic voice.  

Zircon sat up in his bed, eyes still closed.  He could hear Jade calling him and started walking in his sleep.  She talked him through everything, when to turn, what doors were opened. 

"Come outside. Stop.  Go through the portal." 

He stepped through the portal and ended up in her dark world.  "Welcome to my home, Zircon."  She walked up to him and snapped her fingers.

"Oh, what a strange dream," he moaned, rubbing his eyes.  

"Rise and shine," she said.

"Priscilla?" he asked.  He focused on the girl. It wasn't Priscilla, "Jade!  Where am I?  

What have you done with me?"

"Hmm," she said, 'maybe I won't kill him after all.  I think I'll keep him alive,'  "Oh, Zircon, come and make yourself more comfortable." She reached her hands to his chest and he pushed her back.

"Leave me alone," he snarled.  

"I suppose I have snapped my fingers a bit too soon," she mumbled.  "Relax, Zircon, you're going to be here for quite a while."

"You cannot keep me here," he said, "soon the sailor soldiers will find me."

"Well, that will be not be possible because I have taken away their powers," she hissed, "They're helpless.  There's no way they can find this place.  They can't help you, Zircon."  She squeezed his mouth, "why don't you make the best of it?"

"They will come for me, I know it!"  Zircon knocked her hand away and sent a blast of energy toward her.  "You cannot control me!"

Jade shielded her self, "You will be mine," she said with a sneer, "you'll give yourself away to me or die!"

"Never," he muttered back. "You're ugly and hideous!  Not to mention evil and insane!"

Jade slapped him, "don't talk to me that way!" a board came out of the ground and bands went around his ankles and wrists.  "You'll learn to love me.  Be thankful that I'm not using this moment to kill you." She formed an ice shard and slid it down his face and neck, slowly, just barely touching his skin not to cut him. "I can kill you now, you know."

"I'd rather die than be yours!" he growled.  "My heart belongs…."

"You love someone else, don't you?" she demanded, "No matter, with a little time, she'll no longer exist in your mind!" Her finger slid down on his necklace that held Pricilla's tear. She ripped the necklace off and walked away.  "You will be mine, forever!"

'Priscilla, find me,' he sent out mentally, 'I need you.  Gwen, Ivy, Chloe--girls--I need you, my friends.  Priscilla…'

Priscilla shook violently in her sleep, "No, no, your highness, watch out.  Zircon, don't.  Stay back. Don't go." She was having nightmares of Zircon being somewhere that she could not reach.  She sat up straight, her scream stuck in her throat, "Zircon,"

She heard Kayura scream and Pricilla turned her head around.

"Oh no," Pricilla whispered, "It happened."  She got up to her feet and ran down the hallway to the sound.  Chloe and Ivy stepped out of their rooms, Chloe looking concerned and Ivy annoyed.  

"Did you hear that?" Chloe asked Priscilla.

"It's Zircon, he's in trouble," Priscilla mumbled and rushed down the hall.  

"What do you mean?" Chloe and Ivy followed her and then Ivy went to Gwen's room to wake her up.

She found Kayura and Diamond in Zircon's room. Zircon was not there. Diamond had his arms around her.

"Maybe he's just outside," Diamond said.  "Let's not jump to conclusions."

"Zircon?" Pricilla mumbled, "Where is he?"

"What if Jade has him?" Kayura inquired, "He may be in danger!"

"How could she get in here with out us knowing?" Sekhmet demanded, "She would have awakened everyone."

"Maybe she lured him somehow," Chloe said, "through mind control."

"Sleepwalking?" Anubis asked.

"It's possible, Father," she said with a nod, "I sometimes hear strange voices in my sleep."

"Nyhaaa," Gwen yawned, "what's--what's going on?"

"Zircon's missing, stupid!" Ivy snarled.

"What?" Gwen rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.  "No way!" she stepped closer and cracked her toes on the legs of Zircon's dresser, "Auggh!  My foot!"  She jumped and began holding it while bouncing on her other leg.

"If you weren't still asleep," Ivy muttered, "maybe you would've seen the dresser!"

"Shut up!" Gwen moaned, "Chloe, can you please heal my toes?"

"Can't you handle a few stubbed toes?" Chloe asked.

"Just do it, please!" she begged, now crying, "it hurts!"

Chloe sighed and healed Gwen's toes.

"We have to find him," Kayura urged and looked at Trista, "Can you?"

"I'll try," Trista said, "I'll try."

Pricilla started to feel dizzy.  Placing a hand to her head, she felt sweat.  She couldn't understand what everyone was saying. With a moan, she fell to the floor as her father shouted her name.

Around five minutes later she awakened in her bedroom and saw her father's face.  

"Father?" she whispered.

"You gave us quite a scare," Kale said, "are you alright?"

"I think so," she said. "I didn't mean to frighten anyone."  She sat up and started feeling dizzy again.  "I just got a little dizzy with all the commotion."

"Is there anything we can get you?" Ivy asked.

Priscilla shook her head and lied back down.

Everyone left the room except Kale.

"I'll stay here if you want me to," Kale said.  "Did you just get dizzy, Pricilla, or is there something else?"

"You don't have to stay, Daddy," she mumbled.  "I'm fine.  I just didn't get a lot of sleep last night. B--"

"Bad dreams?" he finished.

She nodded.

"You wan--"

"I'm fine!" she snapped, "Just go away!"

Kale nodded with an emotionless face, because he didn't want her to know that it hurt him for his own daughter to snap at him.  He got up and left.

Priscilla turned on her side and hugged her pillow, feeling the tears come to her eyes.  She fell into a deep depression and it lasted for hours. 'I'm sorry, Zircon,' she thought.

Gwen came to visit her and try to settle her mind with her illusions but they didn't help. A good feeling will come and then it will disappear when the illusion was over.  Gwen thought that her illusions weren't so convincing so she asked her father to try it.  They worked a bit more but still didn't pull her out of her depression.

"I don't understand," Gwen said, "what am I doing wrong?"

"Nothing," Dais told her, "my illusions didn't work either."

"Why would she get this way?" Ivy asked irritably.  

"Aren't you worried about Prince Zircon?" Chloe demanded.

"I didn't mean it that way," Ivy said, softening her face, "I'm worried about Prince Zircon too but I'm not in a deep depression."

"Don't you understand, Ivy?" Chloe questioned, "Pricilla is in _love_ with him!"

"What?!" Trista and Kale gasped.

"Be reasonable, Chloe," Ivy said, "We all love him."

"You what?" Sekhmet inquired, furrowing his brow.  Michelle sighed and slapped his arm.

"Well, I--," Ivy blushed.

"That's right," Gwen added, "We've been guarding him for a long time.  He's like a brother to us."

"Y-yeah, what Gwen said!" Ivy said with a grin.

"He's more than a brother to Priscilla," Chloe said, "haven't you noticed it?  Why would she fall in this depression if she didn't feel this way about him?  Gwen, what did she say to you when you tried to make her feel better with giving her visions?"

"She kept saying that she failed," Gwen reported, "and that she felt helpless and that we'll never find Zircon.  You're probably right that they love each other."

"You sure about this?" Kayura asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I do remember that look on Zircon's face when Pricilla froze time," Ivy said, "Maybe he loves her too."

"I understand if she felt like she failed, but it wasn't her fault," Gwen mumbled, "If Jade didn't take our powers we wouldn't be in this mess!"

"I'll make that bitch pay!" Ivy snarled.

"Ivy, watch your tongue!" Michelle scolded.  She sneered at Sekhmet, "it's you she takes after!"

Sekhmet shrugged.

"Poor Zircon," Gwen said, "he's got to be so scared.  Who knows what she's doing to him.  Probably torturing him or turning him against us or--"

"Stop it, Gwen!" Chloe shouted.  "Zircon's not entirely helpless!  We must believe that he can hold on until we get to him."

"I kno that, Chloe," Gwen muttered, "I just met that I was worried about him.  That twit Jade is out of her mind more than Ivy is!"

"Hey!" Ivy shouted.

"Calm down," Anubis commanded.  "You won't find Zircon if you argue."

"We weren't arguing!" the three girls screamed.

"Don't worry, the other scouts are on their way," Hotaru said, "They can help us find him.  Maybe we can get your powers back."

"You're right, Hotaru," Amara agreed, "We have to believe that we can turn it around. We haven't lost yet."

"I just wish there was a way we could let Pricilla know that," Chloe said with a sigh, rubbing her arms as she looked down at Pricilla's room.


	4. I Feel Your Pain

Meaning of Life Terry Dale Terry Dale 5 159 2001-09-21T16:26:00Z 2001-10-21T20:46:00Z 10 2921 16650 none 138 33 20447 9.3821 Normal 75 0 0 

**Meaning of Life**

**Part 4**

**I Feel Your Pain**

"Good luck, sailors," Neo Queen Serenity told the next generation of the scouts, "just travel east and soon you will reach their home."

Sailor Strata Moon nodded.  As she left, she saw Masked Phoenix stand on the wall out of the corner of her eye.  She kept her eyes forward and tried not to look back.

It wasn't long until many eight-foot-tall golems made from stone ambushed the scouts.  They were very strong creatures and when they hit the scouts with their stone arms, it sent a force powerful enough like a battering ram.

"Oh my goodness!" Sailor Torrent Mercury gasped, "Where did they come from?"

"All right, some action!" Sailor Hardrock Venus exclaimed, "Venus Rock Chain!" a rock-linked chain swung around one and she pulled it to the ground.

"Mars Rapid Fire!" Sailor Wildfire Mars pulled her arms out to the side with her fingers pointed and then forward as millions of fireballs blasted the golems, sounding like a machine gun.

Sailor Strata Moon did not need to use her special attacks because of her long experience as a sailor. She fought them by hand. She knew she had to save her attacks for much bigger baddies. 

Sailor Torrent Mercury watched the sailors fight and shook her head.  "I can't do this," she mumbled.  

"But Sailor Torrent Mercury," Sailor Wildfire Mars said, "they're not people!  You don't have to worry about hurting them!"

"Yeah," Sailor Hardrock Venus added, jumping up to kick a golem in the face, "they're just giant clay models that can walk!  When we're done, we can mold them to statues that look like us!" She picked up a boulder and threw it at them.  "Yeah!  Strike!"

"You'll have to defend yourself some time soon, Sailor Torrent Mercury," Sailor Halo Jupiter told her.  "Hey, watch out!  Jupiter Thunder Ring!" A ring of lightning decapitated a golem that was about to attack Sailor Torrent Mercury.

"That was close," Sailor Torrent Mercury breathed.  "They're just, models, huh?" she said, forcing a smile, "well, okay.  Mercury Exploding Bubbles!" A giant bubble formed and exploded, sending out many bubbles all around creating a fog and as it touched some golems, they exploded. "Oops, I didn't know they were going to explode."

"Look, there is more coming!"  Sailor Halo Jupiter cried out. 

"Oh no," Sailor Strata Moon muttered under her breath.  The other scouts were in trouble and needed their help but this band of golems was taking up their time.  What if Zircon was already in trouble?  If either he or Princess Purity is captured, it could mean the end of them.  "We'll have to work harder!  The others are counting on us!"  She had no choice but to bring out her moon baton and she twirled it around, "Now wait until they come closer.  Ready…Aim…Attack!"

"Mars Rapid Fire!"

"Jupiter Thunder Ring!"

"Mercury Exploding Bubbles!"

"Venus Rock Chain!"

"Moon Beam Wave Attack!"

Their combined attack went right through the middle.  "Now run for it!"

"Aren't we going to finish them?" Sailor Wildfire Mars demanded.

"The others are counting on us," Sailor Strata Moon said, "We don't have time for this!"

"She's right," Sailor Torrent Mercury agreed, "they can't even run very fast.  We'll be ahead of them if we hurry."

"They can still follow us," Sailor Wildfire Mars said, "I'm not leaving from this spot until these golems turn into putty!"

"This won't take too long," Sailor Hardrock Venus bragged.

Their chance to run ended and they had to continue to fight the hundreds of golems and they were wearing themselves out.  Sailor Strata Moon was so angry that she could not concentrate.  She just wanted everything to end, right here, right now.  

***********************************************************

Priscilla sniffed, "forgive me, Zircon."  The door opened.

"Priscilla, I cannot allow this to go on any further," Kale said.

"What are you getting at?" she demanded.

"It's not too late," he replied, "Zircon may be safe."

"I've failed," she said.

"No you haven't," he sat down on the edge of her bed and she looked down. "How were we supposed to know something like this would happen?"

"I should have been awake, standing watch or something."  Pricilla said, "it's all my fault, I--"

"What do you think you'd accomplish by blaming yourself?" Kale questioned, "I understand you feel like you failed but you haven't."

"But there's no way for me to find him," she said.

"Your mother is working on that right now," Kale told her, "there's no time or space Jade could hide."

"Well, say we do find out where Jade is hiding him," Priscilla muttered, sitting up, "How can I get there to protect him?  I can't transform!  I'm useless!"

"Don't ever let me hear you say that!" Kale scolded.

Priscilla gulped, "Daddy?"

"I'm sorry," he said, calming down.  "I just don't like that word.  You are not useless, understand?  You were very useful when you stopped time before Jade attacked Zircon and you protected him, didn't you?"

She nodded, "but I can't transform _now._ How am I supposed to fight?  I'm not a sailor scout any more!"

"Sure you are," he told her, "you think that silly little outfit makes you a soldier?  No, it comes from inside.  You can still fight to save him without your sailor powers.  All you need is your courage and your faith."

She sighed, smiling, "really?"

"Of course," he said, "there was a time that I felt very depressed also.  After learning the truth of what Tulpa wanted from me, I was just a tool, a pawn in his little game, I was crushed. He only wanted me to become the warrior of corruption so I could wear the armor and do his bidding. That all changed when I met your mother.  I am not that man anymore. You can't give up, Priscilla."  He pulled his daughter close, "Deep inside, you know that's not what you want to do." His wings expounded from his back and wrapped around her.  He held her for a while as she sobbed silently and eventually got herself under control. He kissed her head and walked away.  "You'll know what to do."

"Daddy's right," she said with a sigh, her hand falling to her side.  She felt something cold and small under palm, "what's this?" she asked and she picked up a crystal orb with the kanji symbol of obedience and the symbol of Pluto inside.  "No way," she mumbled, "this is…OH MY GOSH!" she jumped up, unable to control her laughing.  

The sub armor on her body appeared in a rich red with the section on the chest lighter in color.  She ran out to find the others.  "Hey, girls!"

"Pricilla!" Ivy cried, "I thought you wouldn't come out there for days!  Finally, the fox has come out of her hole!"

"Hey, I heard you crying in your room earlier so don't even start!" Chloe snapped.

"Liar!"  she yelled and Gwen giggled as they continued to have a spat.

"Quit fighting, you two and look what I found!" Priscilla held out the orb, "and look what it did!"  She gestured to her sub armor.

"Fascinating!" Chloe mumbled.

"Where did you get that?"  Gwen demanded, her eyes expanding in surprise.

"It was in my room!" she replied with a grin, "you know what this means?  Huh? Do you?!  It means we can still save Zircon!"

"What's all the commotion about?" Kayura demanded, walking down the passage way, "Priscilla, are you all right?"

"Am I all right?" she echoed, "Am I all right? Of course I am!  I'm wonderful!"

"Well, where's ours?" Ivy questioned with a frown, "I want one too!" her frown turned to a small smile, "there's no way that I'm going to let you go there without me!"

They started laughing and three new orbs fell in their hands. 

"Look!" Gwen cried as a bright blue sub armor with a lighter chest piece appeared.  "This is amazing!"

"Amazing, everyone, come look!" Kayura shouted.  

"What's going on?" Diamond demanded, "oh my…"

"Wait, are those--," Dais began.

"Daddy, I think you've been casting too many illusions," Gwen said, "These are our armors!" she held out her orb, "since when did your orb have the symbol of Uranus inside of it?"

"This is great," Chloe said, "this is exactly what we can use now."

"Well, why are we all standing around for?" Priscilla demanded, "let's go find Zircon!"

*************************************************************

Sailor Strata Moon's head whipped back as she grunted.  She was taking quit a beating.  "Ghuh!  Mmph! Agh!"  Blood dripped from her cut lip and her broken nose.  Her shoulder was bruised and she felt like she was going to be sick.  She tried to fight back but she began to feel weak and she didn't feel like fighting back either.  Sailor Strata Moon only pretended like she wanted to fight.

"Sailor Strata Moon doesn't look so good," Sailor Hardrock Venus noted, "hey, don't think _you're_ going to make mince meat out of me!" she badmouthed a golem as she backed up, "You'll be nothing but dust when I'm through with you!"

_This isn't going to work,_ Sailor Strata Moon thought to herself, _I'm done for.  Let my life end now. I'll never learn the meaning of life…_ With that thought remaining in her mind, she didn't notice the golem smack her hard in the stomach, sending her fly back.  

"Sailor Strata Moon!" Sailor Halo Jupiter shouted, "No!"

Sailor Strata Moon looked at her hand and noticed the kanji was all scratched out, exposing a bleeding hand. 'Some _life_ I have,' she thought.

**************************************************************

"Ouch," Princess Purity winced as she was dining with Yuli, Vincent and her parents.

"What is it my, love, did you hurt yourself?" Yuli asked.

"Yes, but I don't know how," she wiped the blood away with her napkin but there was no wound, "that's funny. Ugh," she leaned forward and placed her hand over her nose.  Blood fell down from her nostrils.

Vincent and Yuli came to her side, "are you tired? Would you like to lie down?" Vincent asked.

Neo Queen Serenity stood up with a concerned look, "what's the matter?"

"I, I don't know," Princess Purity mumbled, holding her nose.  "I feel like I'm in a battle but I'm not fighting anyone.  Oh," she held her hand to her shoulder that felt bruised.  

Vincent touched it gently.  "How did you bruise yourself?"

Far away, Sailor Strata Moon held her head back and screamed with intense pain.  

Princess Purity threw her own head back, screaming too.  "The pain, it hurts!"

"Look at me, Rini, look at me," Yuli held her face, "look at my eyes.  What hurts, tell us what we can do for you."

"Go get Ami," she winced, "hurry." Yuli ran off to get her. Then she grabbed her brother's arm, "Vincent, I--" her voice choked as blood fell down her chin.

"What, what is it?" he asked, "Calm down."

"I think, I think Rowena's in danger," she said, "she's in battle right now."

"You certain?" he inquired, his voice shaking.

"She's in battle, Vincent," she winced, "and I…augh…can feel her pain!"

"Rowena's in danger?" Neo Queen Serenity demanded, she turned around to the stairs.  "Rowen!  Rowen!  Get down here!  Hurry!"  She heard hurried footsteps down the stairs and eventually saw Rowen coming down them.  "Oh, Rowen!"

"What's wrong, Serena?" he asked.

"Rowen, I--" she grabbed ran up the stairs and grabbed his hand, "I think Rowena is in trouble!"

"She'll be all right," Rowen said optimistically.  

"Just take a look at Rini," she said, "and you will see."  She pulled him down the stairs and pointed to Rini.

Yuli returned with Ami.  "Everything's going to be okay, Rini!"

"What hurts, Princess?" Ami asked, taking out some bandages.

"Everything," she replied with a wince.

"See," Neo Queen Serenity mumbled, "Rini feels like she's being attacked but she's right here with us.   It's like she can fell Rowena's pain.  Some where, Rowena is out there and she looks just as bad as Rini, if not worse."

Rowen shook his head.  A disturbing image of Sailor Strata Moon appeared in his mind, screaming with pain.

"Rini, can you tell us where Rowena is?" Rowen asked.

"I don't know where she is," she replied.  "But I don't think she's far.  Vincent, Vincent," she mumbled, "You have to find her!" she clutched his wrist, her fingernails digging into his skin.  "I think Rowena's pain is even worse."

"I can't just leave you," Vincent said.

"Hey, buddy," Yuli said, "Rini will be okay.  We'll take care of her.  Your place is with Rowena.  Go on, man, she needs you."

Vincent looked doubtful, "but Rowena…she's…"

"Hey, she _needs _you." Yuli stressed.  "No matter how much she's not willing to admit it."

"Okay," he kissed his sister's forehead and got up to leave.  Rowen and Darien stopped him before going.

"Careful, son," Darien said, nodding to Rini, "if Rini can feel Rowena's pain, then she can certainly feel yours."

"Just find her," Rowen said.  "Rowena's strong but…just find Rowena."

"How?" Vincent asked.

"Listen to me," Darien said, "No matter how far you may be, love will always bring you to thee."

"What does that supposed to mean?!" Vincent demanded.  "Did you learn this in college?"

Darien raised his eyebrow in surprise.  "Your love for Rowena will bring yourself to her."

"Oh, okay, thanks," Vincent said and ran off.

Rowen and Darien watched him leave.  Darien wrapped patted his shoulder, "don't' worry, he'll find her."

"Something doesn't' feel right," Rowen said.  "I know Rowena's strong but suddenly I fear for her safety."

"Vincent will find her, Rowen," Darien said firmly.  "He's got to, for not just your daughter's sake," he turned to look at Rini, who was being carried off to the infirmary in Yuli's arms, with Ami next to him, "but mine too."

"Everything will be all right, Rini," Yuli whispered as he placed her down on a comfortable sterile bed.  "Just hold on."

As Rini and Yuli spoke, Ami reached for some painkillers.

"Rini, I didn't want to tell Vincent this," she said, "I knew it would frighten him."

"What?" he asked.

"I was feeling something more than just Rowena's pain," Rini replied, "but how she felt inside.  Her thoughts, her emotions."

"What was Rowena feeling?" Yuli asked in concern.

"Rowena felt helpless," she replied, "and--it was like--she didn't care if she lived or died."

Yuli gasped, "you'd better not tell Rowen that too."

"Promise me you won't tell my brother?" Rini asked.  "It would upset him."

"I promise.  Ami will you--"

Ami gave Rini the shot of painkillers.

"I won't say anything to Rowen," Ami said, knowing what he was about to say.  "I think Rowena should tell them both how she felt herself."

***********************************************************

"No, Sailor Strata Moon!" Sailor Halo Jupiter cried out, "Get away from her, you monsters!  Jupiter Thunder Ring!" she hit the group of golems that were about to finish her off. 

"Let me see what I can do," Sailor Torrent Mercy said, remembering everything her mother taught her about first aid.

Sailor Hardrock Venus and Sailor Wildfire Mars tried to hold them off the best they could while Sailor Torrent Mercury and Sailor Halo Jupiter tried to help Sailor Strata Moon. 

"She looks bad," Sailor Torrent Mercury mumbled as she formed a bubble and dropped it on Sailor Strata Moon's wounds. "I think she'll be okay," Sailor Torrent Mercury said, "but we have to get back home."

"I can try to heal her," Sailor Halo Jupiter said, "It will take away a lot of my energy but I it will be worth it."

"No, save your strength," Sailor Strata Moon winced and reached her hand to her brooch, "Sailor Halo Jupiter, I want you to give this to my father." 

"Hey, don't you start talking that way, we need you!" Sailor Halo Jupiter snapped.  But Sailor Strata Moon did not listen and placed the brooch in her hand.  As soon as she did, her uniform disappeared and so did the other scouts'.

"Sailor Strata Moon, you fool!" Wildfire Mars shouted, now Robyn, "why did you do that for?"

"How was she supposed to know that would happen?" Phyllis shouted.

"Yes, It feels so good be out of that uniform!" Rochelle said, she looked down at her red ribbon, "hey, this thing is lucky!" She picked it up and kissed it, "mwaaaa!"  She wrapped it around her knee again.

"Make sure my father gets it," Rowena mumbled.

"You're going to be just fine now, Rowena," Joy whispered, "Just hold on."

"TREMBLE WITH TERRORRRRRR!" a woman's voice screamed and the scouts saw a hook like weapon attached to a chain swoosh to the sky, sending out hundreds of ribbons and they turned into chains.  They wrapped around the golems and turned them into ashes.

"ELEMENT OF SURPRIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSEEEEEE!" another voice was heard and the golems began attacking each other.

"It's the warlords," Rochelle said, "great, my dad's going to be so happy when he hears that his arch enemy tried to play a trick on me!"

"No, the warlords are good.  They met the outers." Phyllis said, "and those aren't their attacks."

"They sure sound like them," Rochelle said.

"Wait, they're not the warlords, they're girls!" Joy said.  

"RIVER OF POISONNNNNNN!" A poisonous river splashed into the golems and they began to sink in its acid.

"LOST IN SPAAAAAAAACCE!" A black hole opened up and sucked in the rest of the golems like a giant vacuum.

"Well," Chloe said, her hand on her hip, "it's a good thing we decided to make one stop before heading out to find Zircon!"

"You don't have to come see us now," Ivy said, "we decided to come get you instead!"

"They certainly look like the warlords," Joy mumbled.

"Well, they _are_ our fathers!" Gwen said, "by the way, I'm the daughter of the warlord of Illusion and Sailor Uranus.  Call me Gwen, the War Lady of Surprise!"

"Sounds much better than 'Warlord of Illusion,' that's for sure!" Rochelle exclaimed

"The warlord of Cruelty and Sailor Saturn are my parents.  I'm Chloe, the War Lady of Destruction."

"_That_ is _not_ better than 'Warlord of Cruelty', I'm sorry," Robyn moaned.

"Hey, Sailor Saturn's the scout of destruction, you expected 'War Lady of Revolution?'" she demanded with a smile.

"That does sound better!" 

"And I am the daughter of Sekhmet, the Warlord of Venom and Sailor Neptune.  You can call me, Ivy, the War Lady of Poisoned Water."

"Poisoned Water?" Joy mumbled.

"And I am the daughter of Kale, warlord of Corruption and Sailor Pluto," Pricilla folded her arms, "Pricilla, War Lady of Frozen Space."

"Warlords?" Rowena mumbled, squinting.

"No, they're the War Ladies," Phyllis corrected, "They are the daughters of the warlords.  They saved us from the golems."

"Oh my," Chloe said, "She looks awful.  Here, let me heal her." She walked down and placed her gauntleted hand over Rowena's wounds.  When Chloe removed her hand, Rowena was healed.  "She'll be all right soon."

"Do you feel okay?" Phyllis asked in concern

"I do now," Rowena moaned.

"Rowena!" Masked Phoenix shouted and ran to her where she lay, "oh, thank god, you're alive!"

"Masked Phoenix?  How--how did you find me?" 

"No matter how far apart we may be," he said, bending down next to her, "love will always bring me to thee."

She looked at him with a mixture of disgust and surprise on her face, "what?"

"My love for you brought me to you," he said.

"Well, I can take care of myself," she muttered, getting to her feet.  However, she tripped over a rock and he caught her.  "You should be protecting Rini, not me."

"I am protecting her," Masked Phoenix said, "she was feeling your pain as you were in battle.  You two are connected.  We were afraid she would die if you would."

"She was feeling my pain?" she asked, "I didn't know we able to do that."  She smiled and pressed her finger to her lip.  "Now we know if one of us is trouble."

"What happened to, sailors?" Masked Phoenix asked.

"We were ambushed," Joy replied, "by golems.  No doubt they were sent by Jade."

"It's a good thing the War Ladies came in time or we would have lost them both," Phyllis said.  "They're the daughters of the warlords."

Masked Phoenix picked Rowena up and lifted her arm over his head, "thank you, War Ladies.  You should come with us."

"I'm sorry," Priscilla said, "but we have to find Zircon.  He was captured by Jade when he was asleep."

"Then we'll catch up with you as soon as we can," Joy said, "good luck."

"Yes, thank you," Pricilla said and looked to the others, "let's find Zircon."

They nodded, "yes, let's go."


	5. New Warriors

Meaning Of Life Terry Dale Terry Dale 5 128 2001-09-21T18:09:00Z 2001-10-20T03:29:00Z 5 2042 11642 none 97 23 14297 9.3821 0 0 

**Meaning Of Life **

**Part 5**

**New Warriors**

"Are you girls all right?" Ami asked when they came to the castle.

"Yes," Joy answered, "Rowena was the only one that got hurt."

Masked Phoenix walked in carrying a semi-conscious Rowena.  "She'll be all right."

"You should've seen her," Phyllis said, "She was all bruised until Chloe healed her."

"Who's Chloe?" Rowen asked.

"Hotaru's and Anubis' daughter," she replied.

"The War Ladies saved us," Robyn explained.

"Give her to me," Rowen said and Masked Phoenix placed his love into her father's arms.

Rowen left to place her in her room.

Yuli came out of the infirmary.

"Is Rini all right?" Vincent asked.

He nodded, "Yes, the bruises are gone.  How's Rowena?"

"She's healed now," Vincent replied, "Fortunately I didn't see her when she was in pain.  I'm going to check on my sister now."

Yuli shrugged, "go ahead, she's asking for you anyway."

Vincent thanked Yuli and went to Rini's room.

"Are you sure you girls are fine?" Lita asked, "want me to make you some cherry pie?"

"Yeah, we're fine." Phyllis said.  "Good thing the war ladies came when they did."

"Hmm, let me see," Ami walked to Joy and placed two fingers on the inside of her wrist.

"Uh, mother, why are you checking my pulse?" Joy asked irritably.

"Sweetie, you look rather flushed," Ami said without answering.  She turned and called to Sai, "Could you make her something?"

"But I feel fine!" Joy half-yelled.

"Sure," he went into the kitchen.

Rochelle put her hands on her hips and laughed, "Don't be so sore, Joy.  They're only watching out for you."

"Oh, be quiet!" Joy snapped.

"Rochelle, where's your ribbon?" Mina demanded.

"It's around my knee, see," Rochelle said, pointing at her knee.

"You're knee?  What is it doing around your knee?"

Kento whistled and looked around.  "Kids these days."

*****************

"Zircon, I want you to do me a favor," Jade said.

"What makes you think I'll do a favor for you?" he demanded, trying to wriggle out of the shackles on his wrists and ankles.

"I will not be spoken to that way!" she hissed.  "Now, I want you to bring Princess Purity here."

"I wouldn't do such a thing!" he cried.  "I won't be part of your evil scheme!"

"You do what I say or die!" she yelled, holding an ice shard underneath his chin.  "Bring Princess Purity to me!"

"Do it yourself," he muttered.  

"No, I believe she would come to you if you needed help instead of me," she said.  "It won't be hard.  You won't even have to leave my castle.  You'll be the bait to lure her in."

'I can't do this,' Zircon thought.  'It's wrong.  But if I did it then maybe together we can make a plan to get out of here.' 

"Yes, I'll do it," Zircon said.  "Just don't hurt me or Princess Purity."

"That's more like it," Jade said.

*************************

"How is my sister?" Rini asked Vincent.  "Will she be all right?"

"Yes, Rini," he said sitting at her bedside, "the war ladies came to save the girls and one of them healed Rowena."

Rini smiled, "that must explain why my bruises are gone."

"Would you like something?" he questioned.

"Can I see Rowena?"

He frowned, "well, she's resting.  But I'll let her know you want to see her when she wakes."

"I'd like that," she smiled.

Vincent smiled back and kissed her temple.  "You get some rest too, all right?"

"Oh, all right," she groaned.

Vincent laughed and went out of her room and found Yuli sitting at the kitchen. "Let her rest for a while."

Yuli nodded, "okay.  We need to talk anyway."

"Talk?"

"Yeah," Yuli laughed, "Lita's making the wedding cake but I'm not sure which sample is best!"

Lita smiled modestly, "ah, come on."

Vincent looked somewhat confused and then Lita pushed a forkful of white cake in his mouth.

"What do you think of this one?" she asked.

"They all taste great to me," Yuli said, "We need a second opinion.  Lita, how do you get that fruit jelly in the cake?"

******************************

As Rini slept, she heard someone speaking to her.  It was a male's voice but it didn't belong to someone she recognized.  It was not Yuli, nor Vincent or her father.  It was a young male's voice.

"Help me," he said.  "Help me."

Rini could hear his voice so clear that it echoed in her mind. She woke up and looked around the room.  "Hello?"

"Help me, please help me."

Rini got off her bed, "where are you?"

"Look out your window."

Rini unlocked her window and pushed it open.  Ten feet away stood a man surrounded by a dark aura.  He had blue and white hair and wore a white fancy suite.

"You look familiar," she said, "do I know you?"  Rini crawled out her window and landed onto the grass.  

"Perhaps."

"What's wrong?" she asked, "what do you need help with?"

"She has me," he answered.

"Who?"  She stepped closer and he grabbed her hand.  "Why, you're hurting me! Let go!"

"I'm sorry," he said, "she gave me no other choice."

"Whom are you talking about?" she questioned and the next moment they were no longer standing outside, but in a dark fortress.

He pulled her close and leaned to her ear.  "I didn't want to do it but she gave me no choice."  He whispered.  "I'm sorry.  But maybe together we'll find a way to get out of here.  I'm her prisoner too."

"I don't understand," she said.  

"Ah, my new sister," Jade walked up, "well done, Zircon.  I would've gotten her myself but you know how sisters fight."

"What?" Rini shouted, "You are not my sister!  Rowena is my sister!"

"That girl?" she asked, "but she doesn't care about you."

"You are lying!" she marched up to her to slap her but Jade held her still with an invincible force.  "What?"

"Resistance is futile!" she growled, her green eyes glowing and threw her back to the wall.

"You cannot keep us here for long," Zircon said, helping Rini up.  "Our friends will come for us and we can still escape."

"You're Zircon?" Rini asked, "Diamond and Kayura's son?"

He nodded, "yes.  Jade kidnapped me because I'm the last of the ancient clan and she forced me to kidnap you.  I'm sorry, Rini."

"Don't worry, you wanted help and now you have it," she said.  

"You will serve me," Jade said, walking up to them as her eyes changed from green to blood red.  They glowed, staring into the pairs of crimson and blue eyes.  "And I have three people here to help you join me!"

Three women dressed up as Beryl's generals stepped forth.

"I can't move," Zircon muttered.

"Neither can I," Rini groaned.

Jade held her hands up, "your friends will not come for you.  They do not love you.  They are no longer your friends.  I am your friend.  You are evil now.  Join me."

Zircon and Rini blinked and their eyes were frozen, hazy.  They spoke in monotone, "join you, yesssss.  Yessss, we willll joiiiiiinnnnn yooouuuuu…."

*******************

"Hey, Rini, try this cake--" Yuli and Vincent stepped into her room.  Everything was there, except for her.

"Where is she?" Vincent asked.  "She couldn't have left without us knowing."

"Rini?" Yuli sounded.

Vincent felt a chill and walked to Rini's window, "Hey, Yuli, come look at this.  I don't remember Rini's window being open."

"Neither do I," Yuli said, "Maybe someone kidnapped her."

"And I think I know who did it," Vincent muttered and together they said.

"Jade!"

*****************************

_'Why did you give up?' a voice echoed in her mind._

_'It just seemed easier,' she replied back._

_'Don't you want to know the meaning of life?'_

_'There is no meaning' she said_

_'But there is.  You know it.  Look harder.' The voice said._

_'No, you're playing with my mind.  I am not strong enough.  Don't push me any harder.  I can't do it.'_

_'What have you been fighting for this whole time?'_

_'I thought I knew.'_

_'Go on child, look within yourself. You do know why. What is it that you want more than anything?'_

_'I'm not sure, I don't' know.'_

_'Sure you do.  You know the meaning of life.  You know what your meaning in life is.  You know.  What has been inside of you since the day you were born?'_

_'It's…It's…"_

_'Yes.  Yes, that's it.  What is it?'_

_'The meaning of life is.  My meaning in life is…'_

_'Go on. Go on.'_

_'My meaning in life is….'_

_"To live!" _Rowena cried out as she sat up in bed, holding her orb in her hand.  "My meaning in life is to live." She smiled and held it to her forehead, "To live.  Thank you Luther.  Now I know.  I know my true meaning in life."

_'Now go child.  Live and let your soul of life glow.'_

She got up and went down stairs where the others were.

"Well look who's up!" Robyn snarled.

"Robyn," Phyllis said, "go easy on her, okay?  She almost died."

"Well, maybe if she fought harder then she wouldn't have gotten in herself hurt!"

"Listen, Robyn," Rowena said, "you haven't been a scout as long as I have.  We should have kept going.  I remember something my father told me what the Ancient told him.  The key is to go through the middle.  If we hurried we could have made it."

"And if I was the leader then we will be celebrating our victory right now!" Robyn muttered, "You self-righteous, arrogant bitch!"

"Robyn," Joy mumbled.

"We can't transform now!" she shouted to Joy.  "C'mon Joy, how does that make you feel?"

"You actually liked those tight mini skirts?" Rochelle demanded, close to laughter, "They kept giving me a wedgie!"

"Hey, we could still transform if we wanted to," Phyllis said, "We still have our transformation pens."

"That's right, and the power to transform is inside us," Rowena said.

"I've heard enough out of you!" Robyn punched Rowena in the face.

"Hey, don't you know that Princess Purity feels Rowena's pain?" Rochelle demanded with a sneer, "hitting Rowena in the face is like hitting the princess in the face!  Robyn, you mean little twit, I'm going to punch you in the face and see how you like it!"

"Rochelle!" Joy grabbed her wrist, "let's not fight!"

"Come on, Joy, lemme atter!" Rochelle growled.

"Don't worry, Rochelle, I'm fine," Rowena groaned. Rowena reached her finger to her mouth and wiped the blood away. "You're still angry because my sister made me leader, aren't you?"

"Yes!" Robyn hissed.  "I still don't understand why!  She's so biased!"

"You want to know why?" Rowena muttered, "Do you?  You want to know why my sister chose me instead of you?  I'll tell you."

"Why?"

"Because I can do this!" she did a triple kick into Robyn's chest, making her fall down, "and that's not all!  I can kick your ass even more right now if I wanted too!  My father may not have been the leader of the ronins, but he was a valuable part of the team. They never would have made it out alive it weren't for Rowen of the Strata!  That was then, this is now!" she grabbed Robyn and pushed her up on the wall, "Air came before the fire, Robyn, so don't you forget it!" she dropped Robyn and stepped back.

Robyn looked at her guiltily, rubbing her arm.

"Air before fire, huh?" Rochelle said, "before the--"

"Yes, before the rock and the water and---"

"Actually, Rowena," Phyllis said, "I think the light was first." 

"No, space existed even before the light," Rowena said.  

Phyllis grinned, "but why would I want to be leader anyway?" she shrugged.

"Space existed before water or fire or earth or light."  Rowena continued.  "And before wisdom and trust and justice and even virtue, there was life. Life and Air came first. Still think you're supposed to be the leader, Robyn?"

"But I thought--," Robyn mumbled.

"Just because your father led the ronins doesn't mean you can lead the rest of us.  He was the first to find his armor," Rowena said, "that's why he was the leader!"

"Don't forget Whiteblaze!" Rochelle said, "I'm assuming if a white tiger was his companion, he'd be the leader!"

Joy sighed, "Oh Rochelle."

"Well, I'm right!" Rochelle said.

"And which one of us received an armor first?" Rowena asked.

"You," Robyn said irritably.

"That's right," Rowena said, "I was.  Now please, don't let that make you think that I don't need you guys.  You're still a part of the team.  We're sailor scouts and I'll still need you.  Even you, Robyn, you jerk!"

"Gee, I'm sorry, Rowena," Robyn frowned, "I just didn't understand.  Maybe it's better this way.  I mean it had to be hard for my dad to have all that responsibility.  He wouldn't want me to go through the same things he did.  My mom and dad would get so mad at me if I messed up.  You're right.  I'm so sorry."  Her eyes filled up with tears and she laughed a bit.  "I'm such an idiot!"  She embraced Rowena in a big hug.  "I didn't mean it!  I shouldn't be so jealous!  You're the best for the job and I really am happy for you!"

Rowena curled up in surprise.  "Just leave the leadership stuff to me, okay?" she asked weakly.

"Okay!"

The girls looked on with brilliant smiles.  "Oh, I can't help it," Rochelle said, sniffling.  "Big sailor group hug!"  

"We're glad you're our friend, Rowena!" Joy said.

"We thought you were gonna die on us," Phyllis said and the four all embraced Rowena.  

"You guys are the best," Rowena mumbled.

"There you are!" Rowen walked in, "Are you okay?"

The four girls let go of Rowena.  "Sure she is!" Phyllis said.

"Yeah, I am after you all tried to choke me," Rowena joked.

The other warriors came behind Rowen, "Hey Rochelle, I have a surprise for you!" Kento cried.

"You mean?" she asked.

He nodded.

"Oh, yes!" she ran up and hopped on his back.

"Whoa!" Kento moaned.

"And not a moment too soon," Vincent ran in panting with Yuli close behind him.

"What do you mean?" Rowena asked.

"It's Rini," Yuli answered for him, "She's gone! She escaped through her window."

"Jade has her," Vincent muttered.  

"She's scared," Rowena whispered, "I can sense it.  She's doing something to her."

"I do too," Vincent nodded, "they also have Zircon."

"Zircon's the last of the ancient clan," Phyllis said, "if Jade has both Zircon and Rini in her possession, who knows what she's doing to them."

"Probably trying to turn them against us, no doubt," Robyn muttered.  

"We have to hurry," Rowena muttered.

"Yeah, I want to see those shiny armor orbs!" Rochelle shouted.

Rowen opened a case holding three orbs and Rochelle hurried to grab hers, followed by Robyn, Phyllis and Joy.

"Time to kick some butt," Rowena said, holding her orb, "Ronin style!"


	6. Failure Not Accepted

Meaning of Life Terry Dale Terry Dale 7 1195 2001-09-21T19:20:00Z 2001-10-16T20:56:00Z 7 2255 12857 none 107 25 15789 9.3821 Normal 75 0 0 

**Meaning of Life**

**Part 6**

**Failure Not Accepted**

_I do not own Ronin Warriors or Sailor Moon_

The War Ladies traveled onward to find where Jade was hiding.  They had to open a door and Priscilla's sword was the key.  Her armor looked much like Kale's, minus the horns on the helmet and on the breastplate.  The red under colored section of Kale's was dark gray and her cape was smaller than his.  The back of the cape was maroon, the front a light rich red and the bottom of the cape was white. Her gauntlets were red, but the palms were white and her boots looked the same.  It was called the armor of the fox.  

Ivy's armor looked somewhat like Sekhmet's, except that the fangs were smaller of the faceplate.  The shoulder shields were not spiky, yet small and sleekly.  Her armor was very shiny. It was dark green and dark red in color with the rims outlined in sea green.  Because her father's armor is called the cobra, and her mother is the soldier of the sea, her armor was called the sea serpent. She also had six swords packed with deadly venom.

Gwen's armor was bright blue, black and red.  The dark brown of Dais' under section was bright blue with red and shin shields.  The rest of the armor was black and on the back was a red hourglass.  The boots did not have the curved spikes on the side like her father's armor. The yellow stripes on his armor were bright blue on hers. Her father's armor, Tarantula, and her armor, black widow.  Her armor, like Ivy's, was shiny was well. The faceplate looked different than her fathers, instead of the ridges covering the mouth, her mouth was exposed, with two long curved fangs down past her chin.  On her back was the same weapon, but they were smaller and red in color.

Chloe's armor looked much like Anubis', the under armor was dark purple and the cloak like part of his armor was longer and on hers.  It was yellow and purple in color.  Her helmet looked like his, except for the horns.  Her faceplate was black and though his mouth was uncovered, her wasn't. (To kind of get the feel of 'silence'.) The top of it came far down, kind of like a hood, covering her eyes.  Her weapon was very much like Anubis'.  He was the ogre, her mother the sovereign of silence, and her, the reaper.

"Priscilla," Ivy began, "we've been wandering for hours, didn't your mother tell you where to go?"

Priscilla did not hear her, 'you can't hide from me, Jade,' she thought, 'not even in the darkness!'

"Didn't your mother give teach you manners?" Chloe muttered under her breath.  "Oh, I forgot, you're a daddy's girl."

Gwen snickered, "good one, Chloe!"

"What's going on?" Ivy demanded, turning her head around.

"Nothing!" Chloe and Gwen chimed.

"Think I should enhance her arachnophobia?" Gwen asked to Chloe in a whisper.

Chloe shook her head quickly.  Gwen sighed, "dammit!"

"I know my father can open the gate to time and space," Priscilla said and unsheathed his sword.  "Maybe I can get to Jade by using my sword."

"Then go for it," Chloe said.

"RIP THROUGH SPACE!" (Wow, that sounds pretty cool!) Black lightning shot forward and started to circle around to form a gate.  They entered and made it to Jade's world.

"Good job, Priscilla!" Gwen exclaimed

"Well," Priscilla began, "I don't want to brag, but my--"

"Then don't," Ivy cut off, "let's go get Zircon."

Priscilla gave the others a look like, 'she's so mean!' and continued onward.

"I had a feeling it would be dark," Gwen said, "Priscilla, can you see him?"

"Yes, I see him! Zircon!" Priscilla shouted.  She walked closer to him where one blowing torch burned.

"Prince Zircon, are you all right?" Chloe asked as she walked to him.  

"Wait, Chloe, something's wrong!" Priscilla shouted. She could see that Zircon was not the same man he was.

Chloe placed her hands on Zircon's shoulders and shook him gently.  He stood dazed. She gasped and stepped back, feeling a dark coldness inside him, "your highness, what's the matter?"

He looked at her and sneered.  His hand began glowing and he sent a powerful blast of energy toward Chloe.  She screamed as she flew to the wall.  Her back hit it with a sickening crack and she slid down.

"Chloe!" Ivy shouted.

"I'm okay," she mumbled, pulling herself up.  "Just remind me not to do that again, will ya?"

A high-pitched giggling cackle filled the room.  Jade walked up behind him, placing her left hand on his shoulder and her right hand on his chest.  She began rubbing her hand in circles on his chest as she leaned his hand against his.  She ran her finger up to his chin.  "Good work, Zircon," she whispered in his ear.

"What have you done to him?" Priscilla demanded, tightening her hand around her sword.  Black sparks began to sizzle up the blade.

"It's amazing what a little temptation can do," Jade sighed, "I've made him mine.  He does not remember you."

"The hell he doesn't!" Priscilla snarled.  "You change him back now!"

"You've made a mistake not joining me," Jade said, "but I was able to find my own helpers, ladies."  She looked behind her and two women stepped forward.  "Meet Milicite, Halikite and Reflyte."

Milicite had white hair that came to her rear and blue eyes.  She stood on the right of Jade and was parallel from Chloe. Halikite was on the left of Jade and she red eyes and chin length black hair and violet eyes.  She was parallel from Gwen and next to her was Reflyte who had blue hair and green eyes.  She stood across from Ivy and they have decided whom their opponents were.

"Attack!" Jade ordered

"With pleasure, Jade!" Halikite shouted, advancing to Gwen.

"ELEMENT OF SURPRISE!" Gwen sent her illusion to Halikite, but nothing happened.

"Your pathetic illusions do not work on me!"

Gwen muttered under her breath, "Damn!"

"Let's see you fight like a real war lady!"

"You'll have to find me first!"  And Gwen went down the west wing.

"Coward!" Halikite ran after her.

"Gwen has the right idea," Priscilla said, "Zircon can get hurt, let me handle him and Jade.  You two, go!"

"Don't forget this one, Priscilla!" Jade yelled, gesturing to Rini.

"Princess Purity!" Chloe gasped.

"Soon you will join her!" Milicite shouted, "follow me if you dare!" she ran down the east wing.

Chloe was hot on her heels, "I'm not afraid of anything!"

"Care for a tour, Ivy?" Reflyte asked nastily.

"I think I'll show myself around!" she growled, "RIVER OF POISON!"

Reflyte held up her hand and the blast did not faze her.  "Poison?  Is that all?"

Ivy turned and went out of the castle to wait for Reflyte.

"I'm afraid it's just us, Jade sighed, looking at Zircon and Rini, "finish her!"

**************************

"You are a coward, Gwen," Halikite said, pulling away another cobweb out of her path.  "You throw your illusions at me and leave little webs for me to walk through.  Well, I am not as foolish you think I am.  Let's have a game of brawn instead of brains, shall we?  Your father always hid behind his illusions, waiting in his web.  What a coward, he was, what a fool.  At least he did not question Tulpa's orders.  Maybe if he did he would lose _both_ of his eyes! This never would have happened if you only united with Jade like you should have.  But it is not too late.  Surrender now and I'll let you live."

Gwen waited for her in a giant web from the ceiling.  "How dare you call my father a coward and a fool!" she growled underneath her breath.  

"Where are you?  Coward!  Show yourself!"  Halikite looked around the hall.  "Come out, little spider!  You have spun your last web!"  She stepped backwards and was stuck in something.  "What?" she felt something sticky on her back and she started to wiggle free.

Gwen lowered herself down, her feet wrapped with the sticky webbing. "Surprise!" Gwen shouted into her face, making Halikite gasp.  "OH, did I scare you?  Well good!"  She broke the rope and landed on her feet. "My illusions did not work with you.  Too bad for me, too good for you, huh?  Or, maybe it's the other way around?" She ripped her from the web and tossed her to the ground.  Gwen pulled off her helmet and tossed it into Haliti'es stomach.  "You want to fight the old fashioned way, hmm?  My father may have been the master of mind games but my mother was pretty damn good at beating the crap of people like you!"  

"Get to the point," Halikite snarled.

"You see, Halikite, I can do more than just throw illusions, I can throw blows too!" Gwen's full armor disappeared and she stood in her bright blue sub armor, "but since you are unarmed, such a pity--I'll be fair and fight you fist to fist!"

"Oh, you are so kind," Halikite groaned, holding her gut.  She stepped upward and kicked Gwen in the face.  She stumbled but jumped and made a rising kick up her chin.  Then they grappled, throwing punches and launching kicks.  Halikite was a rather challenging fighter; still, Gwen still had speed and stamina and nothing Halikite threw at her was too much for her.  

"What was that you were saying about my father, Halikite?" she growled, "hmm?  Didn't you say he was a coward?  Just because he would wait before attacking?  Tell me, Halikite, do I look like a coward's daughter?  Do I look like a fool? Who's the coward now? Huh?  Who's the fool now!" She grabbed her arm, whipped around, wrenching her arm and making her howl in pain.  Then she tossed her behind her.

Halkite struggled to get up and then Gwen kicked her in the stomach to prevent her from doing so, knocking her unconscious and perhaps even dead.  Gwen squatted next to her, "now do you wish my illusions on work on you?  Rest in peace, bitch!" Gwen stood up and her armor came upon her. "Now, time for me to get to work."

**********************************************************

"Where are you going, Milicite?" Chloe demanded, "I do not have time for games!"

"You'll see!" she kept running and jumped over a huge crack and landed on the other side.  "Don't fall in!"

Chloe screeched to a halt and smelt a foul odor, "what is that?" 

"Look down, if you dare!"

Chloe looked into the pit.  It was sulfur; the kind of stuff Tulpa used to torture her father with.  Chloe gasped, seeing an image of her father screaming and squirming in the yellow muck.  "F-Father?"

"Go on, Chloe, how about a swim?" she jumped again, toward Chloe and landed behind her.  Chloe turned around before she pushed her in.

"Sorry, I don't swim in poisoned pools!" Chloe shouted.  "You should've asked Ivy!"

Milicite ducked and threw her arms around Chloe's waist, trying to make her fall in.  Chloe mashed on her foot.  Milicite groaned and sent a yellow laser at Chloe's feet.  It rumbled and fell apart.  Chloe threw her spiked chain into the wall and swung herself way from the pit.

"Is that the best you can do?"  Chloe demanded, swinging her chain.

Milicite grunted and threw a dagger at Chloe's face.  Chloe stopped it with teleknisis, clicked her tongue and shook her head.  She grabbed Milicite by the collar of her shirt.  

"Have a nice swim," Chloe muttered, holding her over the pit.

"Y-you wouldn't!"  She gasped.

"Have you forgotten who my father was?  Hmm?" Chloe demanded.

"I thought your fathers have all changed," she mumbled.  "I'll make a deal with you.  If you don't drop me in I'll just leave."

Chloe let go of her shirt and Milicite was headed for the yellow muck.  She screamed and shielded herself.  Just an inch over it, she stopped.  "Huh?"

A rock moved through the sulfur and Chloe dropped her on it, so that she was stuck sitting in the middle of it.

"Now you just stay in there and think about what you've done," Chloe said.  "You'll have enough time to think about it so don't worry."  Chloe laughed and started to leave. 

"No, wait!  You can't leave me in here!"  Milicete yelled, "Come back here!"

**************************************************************

"So, you'd rather fight outside, eh?" Reflyte demanded as she tracked Ivy.  {Why do the villains always ask these questions when they're tracking someone?}

Ivy felt the vibrations of her footsteps coming closer through the ground.  "I need to wait for her somewhere, but--" she saw a lake ahead and ran to dive in it.  Her armor was so strong at sensing vibrations in the ground, she could even sense them in the water.

"Come out, Ivy, I haven't got all day."  Reflyte said, walking by the lake, "hmm, where do snakes like to hide?"

Ivy stood out of the water and grabbed Reflyte.  

"What the?"

"How long can you hold your breath?" Ivy questioned, shedding her full armor off and standing in sub armor. "When someone is choking you?  Under water!?" Then she submerged with Reflyte.  

She struggled and tried to stand, making gasps for air when she got up but Ivy kept a tight hold on her.  They sank to the deeper end and Ivy hand her arms clamped on her throat and her legs wrapped around her to keep her from moving.  {An: I'm sorry that this sounds so, um, violent, but her armor IS the sea serpent and that's how sea serpents catch their prey.  They crush it and plus, Ivy's a violent and dangerous fighter.)

Reflyte felt her bones crushing and her lungs giving out.  She made one last struggle and then could move no longer.  Ivy gave Refltye's neck a hard twist and it snapped.  Ivy let her sink father down and she swam to the surface.  As she walked to shore, her armor came up, "ten seconds."  She told herself with a big grin.  "A new record."

**********************************

"I will not let them do your dirty work, Jade!" Pricilla growled, "Let them go!"

"I think they would rather stay," Jade said.  "Why don't you join me?  There is still a chance."

Priscilla scoffed, "you cannot corrupt the daughter of the warlord of corruption!"  She pointed at Jade, "and you thought you could hide from us in the darkness, did you?  Wherever you may go, wherever you will hide, I will track you down!  Whether it be the black of midnight or the coldness of outer space, wherever, whenever, I will track you down!"

"What a lovely speech," Jade said, "my, my, my," she clapped, "track me down, you say?  Well you've found me, Pricilla but the search ends here and I'm afraid no spark from that sword of yours can finish me!" she advanced to Pricilla, sending a blast of energy, making her sword fall from her hand.  Priscilla flew back and though she was just mildly injured, she pretended to be unconscious.  

Jade smiled and took this moment to finish the job.  She stepped close to Priscilla and as she bent down to remove Priscilla's helmet, in a lightning-fast moment, Priscilla let out a teeth-clenched snarl and forced her claw in Jade's belly.

"Don't underestimate the power of us, Jade," Priscilla said, pulling her claw from her stomach.

Jade howled in pain and held her stomach.  "You--" she looked behind her to Zircon and Rini, "destroy her!  Destroy them all!"

Zircon and Rini obeyed and advanced to Pricilla.

"No, don't listen to her!" Priscilla yelled, "fight it!  You must fight it!"

"Would a vision of your homes and family help you?" Gwen said and began to make a vision for Zircon and Rini.  It would not work because they were still under Jade's control.

"Augh!" Gwen groaned, clutching her head.

"What happened, Gwen?" Priscilla asked.

"I can't get though!" she said, "Not while Jade still has control over them."

"Were they the best help you could get?" Ivy demanded, returning from her battle with Refltye.

"Well, good help is hard to find these days," Chloe added.

"You two must stop fighting us!  We are on the same side!" Priscilla yelled.

"I'm afraid talking to them will not help," Jade said.  "They will work for me forever!"


	7. New Armor

Meaning of Life Terry Dale Terry Dale 11 432 2001-09-21T19:13:00Z 2001-10-21T23:32:00Z 17 6192 35299 none 294 70 43349 9.3821 0 0 

**Meaning of Life**

**Part 7**

**New Armor**

Look what I can do!" Rochelle cried.  She ran past the group, squatted and launched into a high leap up a tree and started leaping from branch to branch.

"Well, I think I know where she got that from," Yuli grinned.

"How are we supposed to find this place?" Robyn demanded.

"If I could change back to Sailor Torrent Mercury," Joy said, "I could probably find it with my visor and my mini computer."

"I'm working on that, Joy," Rowena said, closing her eyes.  "If I concentrate hard enough, I might be able to find it."

"Hurry, Rowena," Yuli coached, "we need to find Rini as soon as we can."

"Joy, come on up here!" Rochelle hollered, "The view is great!  You can see _everything_ from up here!"

"Everything?" Joy mumbled, "Okay, I'll be right up!  You don't happen to see a portal up there, do you?" she jumped and climbed up the tree, "whoa!" she nearly slid off and Rochelle grabbed her hand.

"See, I told you could see everything from up here," Rochelle said.

"Well, I don't see a door or portal or anything, but it is pretty," Joy said.

"Are you having any luck, Rowena?" Vincent asked.

"Shh, let her concentrate!" Yuli muttered.

"Oh," he whispered, "sorry!"

Rowena's eyes popped open and she stepped back.

"Rowena?" Vincent mumbled, "What's wrong?"

She didn't answer him; instead, she called upon her armor.  "Armor of Strata Moon, Tao Inochi!"

Everyone gasped in surprise.  Rowena held her bow up as she reached for an arrow.

"Please, let my arrow show us the way," she pulled her arrow back, "ARROW SHOCK WAAAAAAAVE!" she let it fly and it began zig zagging all over the place.  "Follow my arrow!" her full armor went away so she could run quickly enough. Everyone ran behind her as fast they could and a few even begged her to slow down.  Rowena stopped where her arrow hit, in the middle of the air as a portal opened up.  Rowena threw her arms up, "Yes!  Whoo-hooo, I did it," she felt that everyone was watching her, "I mean, let's go before the portal closes!"

"Right behind ya!" Rochelle shouted.  They jumped through the portal and landed in a barren desert where a castle lay ahead of them.

"I think that's where Jade is keeping Zircon and Rini," Joy said.  "I hope we're not too late!"

"Time to call the ronins to arms, Rowena," Yuli suggested, "ooh, I'm getting excited! Hurry! Hurry!  I just love it when Ryo calls the ronins to arms!"

"Ronins, to arms!" Rowena shouted, "Armor of Strata Moon, Tao Inochi!"

"Armor of Ice Torrent, Tao Shin!"

"Armor of War Fire, Tao Jin!"

"Armor of Forest Halo, Tao Chi!"

"Armor of Diamond, Tao Gi!"

They held out their fists as the color of their power sparkled in lasers and strips of multi colors streams surrounded them.  {What are those strips supposed to be anyway?}

Blue cherry blossoms floated around Rowena as she stood in the air.  Her boots were bigger and the blue long armor ornaments appeared.  Her arm shields were a little smaller than her father's and the helmet didn't have the cone in the middle or the yellow horns. They were on the front, shaped like a moon and her pigtails were loose and came into a braid under her helmet. She turned to the side as she held her bow and placed a fist on her hip.

Light icy blue blossoms floated around Joy as she stood on a frozen lake.  Her full armor, where Sai's armor was light blue, hers were an icy, white blue.  The lighter blue chest piece was black and the yellow triangles were white and shaped like ice shards. The darker par of Sai's armor was an aqua colored blue and the horn looked like an ice sickle. Behind on her gauntlet, like her father, she also had a dagger, but the blade was jagged like an ice sickle and the blades of her trident also resembled ice sickles.  She held her trident over her shoulders with the blades pointing down. (Like Sai's pose.) 

Red cherry blossoms floated around Robyn's body as she stood in the middle of a wildfire.  Flames covered her body, revealing her new armor of war fire. It resembled her father's armor of wildfire except that it was smaller.  The stripes on her arm guards and the hilts of her katanas were purple instead of blue.  Her helmet looked the same, except the horns were serrated on the topside.  She reached for her swords and pulled them out as she held them the side, as the flames grew hotter.

Green cherry blossoms and fresh green leaves floated around Phyllis in a ring of golden light.  The light shined down on her, showing her brilliant forest green armor.  It looked like her father's, only smaller and the black chest section on his was light green on hers.  The blue color was gold. The helmet looked the same too, however, the gold horns came straight down beside her face except up on her helmet and they looked somewhat like leaves.  Her sword looked a lot the same but slightly different with a spike spiraling around the blade near the hilt and the small blade on hers was jagged like a thunderbolt instead of straight like his.  She held her sword over her right shoulder like a bag.

Orange cherry blossoms and sparks of fire flew around Rochelle as she stood deep down in the earth, which looked like she was inside a mining ground.  Her armor looked black as coal and fire singed her armor and when it went away, it reviled her sparkling armor. It was orange in color like Kento's but the dark brown section was deep blue and the whole armor was covered in diamonds.  The helmet looked about the same, though the horns were diamonds, one bigger than the other. Her three section staff was heavy and the blades were diamonds instead of steel.  (Well, Kento's armor of Hardrock was also called diamond and the blades COULD be diamonds too, but let's just say his were steel, okay?) She held her staff in front of her diagonally.

"Hey, my armor feels hard as diamonds," Rochelle commented as she knocked on it, "wait a minute, it _is_ diamonds!  Well, I guess it really is the armor of diamond, huh?  

My dad's going to be _so_ jealous that my armor is harder than his.  It's even more expensive!"

Dynasty soldiers came out of the castle.  "Dynasty Soldiers!" Yuli gasped.  

"Steady," Rowena said, "wait until they come to us.  All we have to do is just go through the middle."

"Can't we finish them all off?" Rochelle begged, "please?"

"Yeah, please, Rowena?" Yuli added, "I loved it when the ronin warriors recycled the dynasty soldiers!"

"Okay, we can finish them all," Rowena sighed, "just hurry it up!  Now!  Moon Arrow Shock Wave!"

A dynasty soldier brought its weapon down on Rochelle and broke on her armor.  She sighed and shook her head, "pitiful, well, it's my turn!" she punched right though the helmet of the soldier and it fell into ashes.  "Yeah!  COAL DIAMOND CRUSHER!"  She dropped her staff (isn't it a ninjinta or something?) down on the ground, pulling up rocks and diamonds. The diamonds went though a lot of the soldiers like butter.

"FROZEN WAVE SMASHERRRR!" A blast of frozen ice swerved to the soldiers and turned them into ice sculptors.

"That's one way to put them on ice, Joy!" Rochelle cried.

"Thanks, Rochelle!" Joy replied.

"FLAMES OF WAR!" Robyn put her swords together and set an enormous amount of heat into the soldiers.

"LIGHTNING OAK SLIT!" An oak tree zapped lightning into the soldiers that surrounded Phyllis.

"Yuli, behind you!" Vincent yelled.

"Oh, thanks," Yuli swiped a fallen weapon and ran the dynasty soldier that was standing behind him through.  

"Wow, where'd you learn that?"

"Well, Vincent, I spent most of my life with the five best warriors," he answered casually and killed another by standing soldier.  He grinned as he set the spear down, "some of it's bound to rub off!"

In a matter of moments, all the dynasty soldiers were destroyed.

"No more?" Rochelle mumbled, "dang!"

"I hear shouts coming from inside the castle," Rowena said.  "Let's go!"  

**************************************

"You cannot resist me!" Jade shouted.  "You will all die!  All you own will belong to me!"

"No, Jade," Pricilla hissed, "We will stop you!  WE will fight to the death if we have too!"

The new ronins entered the fortress.

"It's the ronins!" Gwen cried, "Glad you could join us!"

"Joy of the Ice Torrent!"

"Robyn of the War Fire!"

"Phyllis of the Forrest Halo!"

"Rochelle of the Diamond!"

"Rowena of the Strata Moon!"

"Sorry if we're late," Rowena said, "we were having just too much fun with your friends!"  (That sounds kind of like Rowen's line: 'Sorry we're late, we missed the exit on the freeway!')

"Where's Rini?" Yuli demanded.

"Don't worry about her." Jade said, "She likes it here better."

"Liar!" Rowena hissed, "MOON ARROW SHOCK WAVE!"  

Masked Pheonix tossed a golden rose toward Jade.  It flew along side with Rowena's arrow.  Before the two items harmed Jade--Rini as Wicked Lady stepped in front of her and caught them--her sister's arrow in her left hand and her brother's rose in her right.

"Ah, thank you," Jade whispered, "see that?  She saved my life.  She doesn't know who you are!"

"It's Wicked Lady," Yuli muttered.

"Rini, listen to me," Vincent said, walking closer to her, "it's me, Vincent.  Remember?  I'm your brother!"

"And I'm your sister, Rowena, don't you remember?"  Rowena asked.  "Come on, Rini, remember how we used to brush each other's hair?"

"Now she brushes mine," Jade muttered, "and I brush hers."  She smiled as she reached her hand to stroke Rini's hair, "don't you think I do a good job?"

Rini stood like a life-sized porcelain doll.  Her eyes were unfocused and blank, her face expressionless. 

"She remembers us," Yuli said.  

"I tried to get them to remember," Gwen told the others, "but it's impossible to do with Jade's hold over them!"

"They know us in their hearts," Yuli said.

"Let me search her heart, shall I?" Jade said, "Do you remember them?  Your _half_ brother and _half_ sister?  Your parents don't love you, Rini because if they did they wouldn't have left you and had children with two different people!  Look at your sister, how she became the new sailor moon leader!  Can you see how your mother loves her more? And your brother looks a lot like your father doesn't he?  Your father did not want you; he wanted a boy so there would be a new Tuxedo Mask!  They don't love you either, Rini!  Take avenge on them for taking away your parents!"

"Don't listen to her, Rini!" Rowena shouted, "I'm your sister!  You know I love you!  Vincent loves you too!"

"Yes, Rini, you know I do!" Vincent cried, "I'm your brother!"

"And no matter what your parents will always love you, Rini," Yuli joined, "you'll always have your parents, your brother and sister and you'll have me too!

"

"I've forgotten about you," Jade snickered, "you were the reason why her parents left her.  You and your friends, the ronins!  Wicked Lady here was much better off before you ever came along!"

"That's not true!" Yuli sneered, "She was the best thing that ever happened to me."

"Show them what they get for trying to kill your new friend, Wicked Lady," Jade hissed into Rini's ear.  "Your one and only friend."

Rini nodded, dropping Rowena's arrow and Vincent's rose.  She lifted up her hands and her Luna P ball appeared in her hand and still with a vacant look on her face, she hurled the ball in between Rowena and Vincent.  It exploded like a grenade when it hit the ground and they fell back, grimacing.

_Rowena! Vincent!_ Screamed Rini's sweet voice in Wicked Lady's mind.  _Don't hurt them!  My sister, my brother!  _

Rini, as Wicked Lady, grunted and grabbed her sides.  "I'm injured," she whispered, now having a look of surprise in her eyes.

"How can you be injured?" Zircon asked her, "Did you hurt yourself?"  He looked confused also.  Then they looked at Jade.  "You don't care if we kill them, do you?"

"Of course not and neither should you!" Jade snapped, "They are your enemies!"

Zircon and Rini looked at each other as if the other knew what to do.

"I know what I can do now," Priscilla said, "I can lead them back to us."

"But you can get a head ache!" Gwen gasped, grabbing Pricilla's arm, "I've tried that already!"

"They'll need more than just a vision, Gwen," Priscilla said.  "He's the last of the ancient clan.  Wouldn't you do anything for him?"

"Of course I would," she said, "but I can't get to him with my illusions.  He's confused enough as it is."

"We have to break Jade's hold on him somehow," Chloe said.

"Attack them again, Wicked Lady," Jade commanded, "or I shall punish you!"

Wicked Lady sighed and held her hand up.  But before could attack, Rini screamed in her head.  "I won't let you harm them!"

"I heard Rini!" Yuli cried.

"I know what to do," Priscilla said.  She froze time and changed the scenery to a dark and foggy surrounding.  "Princess Purity, Zircon, can you two hear me?" she walked to them. She placed her hand on Princess Purity's arm, "your sister and brother have come to save you.  Everything Jade told you was a lie.  You mustn't believe what she says.  She's using you to kill them so you'll die."

"I don't understand," Wicked Lady said. 

"Remember how you felt your sister's pain?" 

"Yes, and knew what she was thinking."

"You will die if they die," she said.  "You won't want to die by killing your own brother and sister, would you?"

"No, but I--I just don't understand," she sighed.  She blinked at Priscilla, "wait, aren't you Sailor P's girl?"

"Yes, I'm Priscilla, Sailor Winter."

"Really?  Can I call you Sailor W?"

"Well, uh," Priscilla mumbled.

Wicked Lady laughed with Princess Purity's voice and shook her head and became Princess Purity again.  "I can't let anything happen to my friends!  We must stop Jade!"

"How?" Zircon asked.

"They need us to stop her, Zircon," Princess Purity said.  "That's why she imprisoned us here and turned us against our friends.  We can do it if we work together!"

Zircon rubbed his head; "she forced me to lead you here."

"Yes."

"Zircon," Priscilla said, "the others and I are worried about you."

"Priscilla?" he asked, "How can you be here?  Jade stole your sailor power."

"I have an armor now," she explained, taking off her helmet.  "I felt so helpless after she took you, Zircon.  I didn't know what to do.  I felt as if I have failed.  But then I realized that I could not give up.  I was going to find you again, Zircon and help you in your darkest hour in the coldest place.  I've forgotten I had the ability to bring people back from the darkness.  I was withering in my pit of despair until my father dug me out."

"I'm just so, confused," he mumbled.

"Listen to me, Zircon," she said, "I have served you since we were children.  That's all I ever wanted to do.  The others and I came here because we _believed_ that you wanted us to save you.  But I need to hear you say it or I can't do anything.  If you want to come with us, just say the word and we'll stop Jade and come back home."  She frowned, "however, if you wish to stay here, then I'll go.  Do you want to stay here and be Jade's slave or come with us and be our friend?  You, you do want to come back home, don't you?"

He looked down in his moment of contemplating.  

"Do you remember the times at winter when you asked me to dance with you as the snow was falling and I jumped at the opportunity?"

Suddenly, he looked up at her and smiled faintly.  He closed his eyes, trying to remember.

_Flashback_

Twelve-year-old Zircon looked out the window and saw snow falling to the ground.  "It's snowing," he exclaimed.  He pulled on his coat and wrapped his scarf around him as he picked up his gloves and stepped outside.  He wanted to dance in the snow.  

Priscilla had beaten him to it.  She was already outside, twirling around and humming to herself.

"Priscilla, I knew you'd be out here," he said.

"Zircon!" she cried, "it's snowing!  Isn't it beautiful?"  Because the cold never bothered her, she wore just a jacket over her sweater and pants.  

"Will you dance with me in the snow?" he asked.

"Oh, Zircon, of course I will!" she exclaimed, running up to him.  "I'd love to dance with you in the snow!  And later, we can build a snowman if you'd like!"

Zircon smiled, taking her hand and putting his other hand on the small of her back.  "That would mean a lot to me, Priscilla."  They danced and he watched how the snowflakes fell on her skin.  "I'd never be able to go through the cold of winter without you, Priscilla."

"That must be why I'm Sailor Winter!" she laughed.

_End Flashback_

Zircon opened his eyes and they were not as hazy as before.  Slowly, he could remember that but he couldn't quite remember what home was or what to do. _The winter, _he thought, _wasn't so bitterly cold with Priscilla._

"Or when I told you what was in the dark when you got scared at night?"

He shivered, the memory coming back to him when he was so afraid of the dark.

_Flashback_

Zircon sat in his room, shivering too afraid to grab for his candle.  He was just a five year-old-boy and tonight seemed to be the spookiest of winter nights.  The bare branches were scratching on the windows and the items in his room looked like monsters.  

"I am so scared," he whispered.  "Is someone there?"  He cleared his throat, holding his blanket around him.  "Please someone?  Don't leave me in the dark.  Mommy, Daddy?"

The door creaked open and he tried to scream but couldn't.

"Who's there?" he questioned croakily.

"It is just me, Zircon," whispered the sweet young voice of Priscilla.  She came to his bedside and placed her hand over his.  "I just had a feeling that I should come to your room.  Do you need anything?"

"I think there are monsters after me," he mumbled.

"Monsters?"

"I hear scary things and I am too afraid to look outside."  He said.  "Everything in my room looks different."

"I'll look outside and tell you what I see, okay?" she said.  "Remember, I can see anything in the dark!"

"Oh, would you?" he asked.

"Of course I would, Zircon," she said.  She walked to his window.  "Hmm.  Let's see, you heard a scratching noise on your window, huh?"

He nodded.

"That's only a tree.  There's an owl on it.  There are no monsters out there!"

There was a howl outside.

"What was that?" Zircon asked uneasily.

She looked out the window, "oh, it's just a fox."

"Can you check underneath the bed?" he asked, "and my closet?"

"Sure thing," she checked his closet and underneath his bed.  She took a good look around the room.  "Nope, Zircon.  It's just the way it is when it's daytime only it is darker.  I guess the darkness can play tricks on you and scare you."

"I'm not so scared of the dark when you're around, Priscilla," Zircon said.

She blushed, "ah, hey, I'm the only one who can see in the dark besides my daddy," she said, "I guess I should at least tell the others what I see."

"I feel much better now," he said, laying his head upon his pillow, "Thank you, Priscilla."  

"You're welcome," she walked to his bedside and tucked him in.  

"I don't know how I could ever get through the night without you," he said.  "Good night."

"Sweet dreams, Zircon," she kissed his forehead, "now, if you ever get scared of the dark again, I'll be here before you know it."

"I won't even have to call you?"

She shook her head.  "I'll save you from the darkness again one day, Zircon.  You don't have to tell me you need help.  I'll know when you need help and then I'll come right away."  She closed the door behind her and Zircon fell asleep and had a very good dream.

_End Flashback_

His heart felt as if it was burning.  He was in the dark again--scared as a lamb--but she came to save him from darkness again.  She knew he was in danger.  He didn't have to be scared anymore.  

_You came to save me, _he thought.  _Like you said to me when we were children._

"Zircon, do you remember Chloe?" Priscilla asked.

_Chloe, _Zircon thought, _do I know Chloe?  I think I remember you now but who is Chloe?  I can't just remember you to be saved, I need to remember the rest, but who were they?_

"Do you remember in spring Chloe gave you flowers when you didn't even ask for them or she healed you when you hurt yourself?"  

_Spring…yes…and Chloe…there was something about Chloe that made the spring more than just the time when the flowers grew.  I remember when we were little children…_

_Flashback_

As Zircon sat underneath a tree and breathing in the spring warm air, he saw a young girl running to him.  It was Chloe.  

"Chloe?" he asked.

Chloe had a handful of flowers and warm smile on her face, "Here, Zircon, I picked these just for you!  The first flowers of spring!"

"The first flowers?" he asked.

"Yes, I helped them grow," she said.

"That's right, you can make things grow."  He reached for the bunch of flowers and pricked his finger on a spike.  "Ouch!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Zircon!" she cried.  "These are thistles!"

"That's all right," he said.  "Thistles are beautiful too.  The color is the same as your dress."

"Here, let me heal you," she reached for his finger and held her finger right over his fingertip.  There was a light purplish haze that escaped from his finger to his, healing the cut.  "Next time I bring you flowers, I'll just bring dandelions!"

Zircon laughed, "Chloe, spring time just wouldn't be spring without you."

She tilted her head and blushed, "Oh, Zircon, thank you!"

_End Flashback_

_Chloe,_ he thought, remembering, _Chloe!  Yes, I remember you!  Did you come for me too?  Where are you?_

"How about in summer when you got too hot or you were troubled and Gwen let you see a vision of a waterfall or a peaceful meadow?"

_Gwen? _He wondered, _Gwen.  Gwen.  Who is Gwen?  It sounds so familiar.  And summer.  She did things for me in the summertime.  I remember…_

_Flashback_

Seven-year-old Zircon felt so hot he just wanted to jump into a lake full of ice.  The heat made him very irritable but it wasn't just that.  Cobalt, his pet bluebird, had been very sick and died just two days before today.

_Why did you have to go, Cobalt?_ He wondered.  He sat in a shady corner of the castle wall, his back against it.  He pulled his legs up and rested his forearms on them and his head on his arms.  He wept.

Gwen was playing in a nearby apple tree, having fun in the sun.  She was hanging with her legs hooked on a branch.  She saw Zircon huddled in the corner and looking very troubled.

_Poor Zircon, _she thought, _he still misses Cobalt._  She pulled herself up and climbed down to meet him.  "Hey, Zircon, what's wrong?" she knelt down in front of him.  "Why are you crying?"

He pulled his hands from his face, "Gwen, you can you stand this blistering heat?" he demanded.  "It's so hot out here!"

She shrugged, "I don't know.  Maybe because I get such a good tan in the summer?"

He frowned, folding his arms and turning his head away from her.

"Oh Zircon," she sighed, crawling to meet his gaze.  She cupped her hands around his face, "what is _really _bothering you?  Tell me the truth."

"The truth is that I'm roasting out here!" he grumbled.

She groaned, "why does everyone get so irritable in the summer around here?" she shook her head, "okay, Zircon, _besides_ the heat, what has you so troubled?"

He didn't answer her.

"Still miss Cobalt, don't you?" she asked.

He sighed.  

"I guessed right, didn't I?"

"So?" he muttered.

"I miss him too," she said kindly.  "I think he was so cute."

"Why did he have to die?" he asked.

"He was sick, Zircon," she reminded.  "We couldn't do anything for him."

"Maybe Ivy poisoned him," he muttered.

"Oh, Ivy wouldn't do a thing like that," Gwen said.

An eyebrow raised, he gawked at her.  "Come on, Gwen."

"Okay, I'll give her the worst vision of her life to teach her a lesson," Gwen said, "just in case."

It may have helped him a little but he didn't give Gwen even the crack of a smile.

"I wish he didn't die," Zircon mumbled.

"He's in a better place now," Gwen said softly.  "A place where there is no pain, no death, no fear.  He's happy where he is."

"I wish I could see it," he said.

"So do I," Gwen said.  "Why don't we have a look?  Now, close your eyes and let me take you to a magical place."  

Zircon closed his eyes and he felt Gwen wrap her arms around his upper body and lay her head on his.  

"Just imagine you're by a waterfall.  There are trees and butterflies all around you."  She spoke with a touch of tranquility in her voice.  "Do you see it, Zircon?"

"I see it.  The waterfall is huge and there is a bunch of rocks.  I can feel the water when I touch it and I can smell the clean forest air."

"What else do you see?"

"Bluebirds, dozens of them.  Cobalt is flying with them.  He looks so free."

"Now, how do you feel?"

He paused, "better.  Much better."  He opened his eyes to thank her but couldn't' see her.  "Gwen?"

Gwen splashed him with water from a bucket.  "Do you feel cooler too?"

Zircon sat there, soaking wet and gawking up at her in surprise.  "Gwen?"

"Surprise!" she cried.  "I'm sorry, Zircon.  But you feel much cooler now, don't you?"  She dropped the pail and chuckled.  "You should've seen the look on your face."

Zircon, though he should have been angered from being soaked, he wasn't.  She was right, he felt a lot cooler now.  He smiled.  "Yeah, I feel cooler now.  Thanks."

"I'm glad you're not angry," she said.  "I just couldn't happy.  You said you were too hot!" 

He lay down and placed his hands behind his head.  "You have an amazing gift, Gwen.  You should keep using it."

"Really?" she asked, kneeling next to him.

"Yeah, because if you don't exercise it," he told her, "you'd probably lose it."

"I will," she said.  "I'd be no daughter of the warlord of Illusion if I didn't practice making illusions of my own, would I?"

He chuckled.  "Oh, Gwen, I'd never get through the heat of the summer without you.  It would be very hard to find comfort without you either."

"I'm glad I could comfort you, Zircon," she said.  "That I could at least do something."

"You did plenty for me," he said, "you may not think that you didn't do much but you did."

She sniffed, "Oh cut it out."

"Hey, are those tears?"

"Um….they're fake!" she said, hiding her eyes.  "It's another illusion."

"I don't know, they look pretty real to me!"

She laughed and pushed him playfully.  "It makes me happy to see you happy, Zircon."

_End flashback_

'Oh, Gwen.' He thought.  'I found solace in your visions of peace.  Are you here so I can thank you?  I could use some comfort now.  This place is both too hot and too cold.  Gwen, can you show me something peaceful?'

"Can you tell me you remember when autumn came and Ivy," Priscilla stopped suddenly.  What did Ivy do for Zircon when autumn came?

'Ivy,' he thought, 'What did you do for me in autumn?'

_Flashback_

"All right, Zircon, let's see what you've got!" Thirteen-year-old Ivy snapped.  She became Sailor Autumn.  "I'll go easy on you because you're my friend but remember, there will be a time when you make an enemy and they won't go easy on you!"

They were training deep in the forest.  The leaves were falling and changing colors.

"Bring it on, Ivy!" he yelled.

She brought out the autumn mirror and pointed it at his feet, "WILTING REFLECTION!"  The grass began to turn brown, leaving a yucky scent.  She sent the wilting reflection at a branch.  It cracked and almost fell down on him had he not jumped out of the way.  

"AUTUMN VENOM LEATH SMOTHER!" she sent many leaves that could burn a person's flesh off at him.  However, there weren't many leaves in this attack so she wouldn't hurt Zircon too bad.

He grunted and held his hand forward, sending a bright blast of energy.  It disintegrated Autumn's leaves.  She crossed her arms in front of her in an X and the blast pushed her back a few feet. 

"Oh no, Sailor Autumn, I'm sorry!" Zircon cried, running to her.  "Maybe I should've gone easy on you too!  I didn't mean to hurt you!"

"It's all right, Zircon," she said, "you know I heal fast.  See?" she held up her arms and the burns and cuts healed up.  She smiled proudly.  "Well done, Zircon!  That was amazing!"  She held the mirror in front of him, "now, what do you see?"

"Me."

"Oh come on, that's the last descendant of the ancient clan.   And he knows how to defend himself!"

"Couldn't have done it without you, Sailor Autumn, "he told her.  "Thank you for training me."  He stood close to a tree; however, he didn't know what kind of tree it was.  There was a twig dripping sap and his shoulder touched it.  The twig scratches his arm and the sap burned through it.  "Gnaa!"

"Zircon!" Autumn shouted.

"My arm!  It burns!"

"That tree has poisonous sap," she told him.  "Here, Zircon," she said, ripping his sleeve, "I'll heal you." She placed her lips right over the cut, as if she were sucking the venom from snakebite.

"Sailor Autumn--" he mumbled in surprise.

She spat out the poisonous sap and held the mirror right over his wound.  A white light went into his wound and healed it up.  "There," she said, turning to Ivy.  "Do you feel better now?"

He nodded, "next time we'd better train somewhere else."

"Yeah," she said.  "Let's go home now.  I bet you're hungry, huh?"

"Thanks, Ivy."

They went backed home and Ivy picked off an ear of corn.  "Here," she handed it to him.

He smiled, "Ivy, harvesting time wouldn't be the same without you."

"Zircon," she mumbled, blushing.  "You're my friend and it's not right for you to go hungry."

"My parents won't let me go hungry and I know I can get whatever I want from the garden," he said, "autumn is just…complete with you.  I don't know how I can get through this season with out you."

"Oh, Zircon," she whispered, her eyes shimmering.  "That means so much to me."

_End Flashback_

'You were right, Ivy.  You went easy on me but Jade hasn't.  She's too strong,' he thought.  'I'm stronger because of you.'

"Ivy would train with me, heal me when I got hurt and bring me something that she picked fresh from the garden at harvest," Zircon stated.

"You, you remember!" she cried.

He nodded then groaned as he rubbed his head.  The hold Jade had on him was fading away.  "I think…so…"

He closed his eyes and part of him took him somewhere else.  He was in a field somewhere and everything looked different on each side of him.  He was facing east and he felt rain falling down on him.  To his right, south, the sun and behind him things were dying.  To his left, north, snow.

"Where am I?" he wondered out loud.

Coming from the east side was a figure holding a scythe.  It was raining behind her but right above her was sunshine.  Somehow, she could separate the rainfall.  As she came closer to Zircon, flowers grew up behind her.  She separated the rain over his head so he wasn't in the rain.  She looked down at the ground and a flower grew.  She plucked it without having to bend down and made it move into his hand by her mind.  He recognized her.

"Sailor Spring," he said.  

"Yes, Zircon," she said.  "I've come to bring you flowers and healing."

Then he faced south.  Another sailor soldier was stepping through the grass.  She held a long sword and as she walked by young trees, their fruit ripened and the leaves turned greener.  She approached him and handed him a canteen of water.

"Sailor Summer."

"Yes, Zircon.  I'm here to bring you water and solace."

He turned again, facing west.  He saw a sailor soldier came upon the clearing holding a mirror.  With each step she took, the grass changed from green to brown and the flowers wilted and the leaves of the trees turned color, falling to the ground.  She plucked an apple before it too fell to the ground and handed it to Zircon.

"Sailor Autumn."

"Yes Zircon.  I'm here to give you nourishment and healing."

Zircon finally faced North to the mountains.  There was snow and wind in the air but through that, he was barely able to see a person.  As the person came closer, the snow got higher.  She was also a sailor scout and she held a rod.  The scout stopped in front of him.

"Sailor Winter."

"Yes, Zircon.  I have come to protect you from the dark and cold."

He looked at the sailor scouts.  "You've come for me."

The sailors changed to war ladies but he still knew them.

"Zircon," Priscilla said, "let me serve you."

"Zircon," Ivy said, "let me feed you."

"Zircon," Gwen said, "let me comfort you."

"Zircon," Chloe said, "let me heal you."

"Priscilla, Ivy, Gwen, Chloe!" he exclaimed, "You're here!  You're really are!  I knew you'd come for me.  I'd never been able to go through any season of the year without you girls.  They just wouldn't be the same without you girls."

"We love you, Zircon," they chanted in unison as the embraced him.

Zircon closed his eyes and opened them, facing Priscilla again.  "Yes, Priscilla, I remember you!  I remember Chloe, Gwen and Ivy!  I knew you would come for me!"

"Just let us serve you as we've always had!" Priscilla cried, her armor disappearing and she fell at his feet in her sub armor.  She grabbed for his shirt and began to sob.  "Please, please, Zircon, oh, please, let us serve you!  Let _me_ serve you!  That is why I am here!  Tell me what it is you want and it is yours!"

"Well, first, I'd like you to stop crying," he said, patting her head.  

She chuckled.  

"Tell her what you want, Zircon," Princess Purity said.  "We need you, as the last descendant of the ancient clan, to help us stop Jade."

"I want to get your powers back," Zircon began, bringing Priscilla up," my necklace with your tear on it back, destroy Jade and this creepy place and hurry back home so we can have some fun!"

"As you wish!"  Priscilla wrapped her arms around his neck and laughed immensely.  "It is yours then, master!" she shouted, now great white and red wings expounding from her back.  "Come now, let's return home!"

She let go of him and he nodded.  "Yes."

Princess Purity came to her side and Priscilla took their hands.  "Let's do this!" they faded black foggy place disappeared and they came back to reality at Jade's castle.

"I order you two destroy them!" Jade shouted.

"We can't betray them!" Zircon and Rini screamed.

"She did it!"  Chloe yelled.  

"Zircon, are you all right?" Gwen asked, rushing to his side, "would you like a vision to comfort you?"

"Did she hurt you?" Chloe questioned in concern, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Do you need some healing?"

"It's my turn to heal him!" Ivy growled.  

"I asked first!"  Chloe snapped.

"I do a better job healing others than you anyway!"  Ivy hissed.

"No you don't!" Chloe said.  "You hurt them more than you heal them!"

Priscilla couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh I missed you girls," Zircon said, wrapping his arms around him.  "But let's worry about that when we get home, all right?  We still need to stop Jade!"

"Wicked Lady," Jade said, "I will let one of your siblings leave if you just tell me which one you'd rather let die."

"The name is Princess Purity to you, witch!" Princess Purity screamed.  She picked up Rowena's arrow and Vincent's rose and looked at them lovingly.  'If I chose to let Jade destroy Rowena then my new powers would be gone.  Mother would we very disappointed in me and Vincent would too.  If I chose to let her kill Vincent then father would be disappointed in me, Rowena will be heartbroken and might push more people away from her and even Yuli would be angry with me, since Vincent and Yuli are best friends.  I can't let her destroy Yuli either, I would just die!'

"And I can't choose between my half sister and brother!" she ran in front of them and held her hands out to the side  "They may be just my half brother and sister but they are still a part of me!"

"Then I shall just destroy you!" she growled, holding her hands in front of her, sending a major blast of energy toward Rini.  

"Rini!" Yuli shouted.

Rini began glowing and held her hands a few inches apart.  The silver crystal appeared and stopped the blast before harming her.  She grimaced and tried to send it back but she was too strong.

"You can do it, Rini!" Rowena said, planting her hands on hers.

"I have to do something," Zircon said and the golden staff of ancients appeared in his hands.  He put the top of it in front of Rini and reflecting it back at Jade.  She screamed and stumbled back.

"Are you all right, Princess Purity?" Zircon questioned.

"Yes, thank you."  She replied.

Masked Phoenix threw another golden rose at Jade, slicing her cheek.  She growled and sent an energy blast at him.  

"Vincent, duck!" Yuli warned but it was too fast for him to maneuver and he fell back and passed out.  

Rini groaned and grabbed her side, "Vincent," she mumbled.

Yuli went to him and tried to rouse him awake, "come on man, this is not the time for a nap!"

"Surrender now, Jade!" Robyn shouted.  "You are outnumbered!"

"Outnumbered," Jade said, "I don't think so." A small smile spread across her face and it turned into a grin, a small giggle and then a chuckle.  Soon, her laughing was accompanied with another voice, Beryl's.  She was guffawing with her head held back.  Tulpa's laughter began to merge with Jade's and Beryl's.  

"Okay, what's so funny?" Rochelle demanded, "do I have something in my teeth?"

Jade seemed to be getting bigger and a part of her was sliding to the right.  This other form was changing.  It was still Jade but she looked so grotesque.  A black and red armor appeared on her and a face place, covering her face. Her eyes and face vanished. 

"This is bad," Yuli mumbled. 

Her other self that looked human still remained. "Now, you think I'm still alone?" she demanded.  "Have you forgotten my father?  I could never be able do this before but you changed that for me, Rowena of the Strata Moon!"

"What?" Rowena snarled.

"Look familiar?" she pulled out the arrow Rowena shot her with. "Amazing what one arrow of life force can do. Thank you, Rowena, for bringing my other form to life!  For your reward, I'm going to kill you!"

"My arrow," Rowena mumbled, "I should have shot you in the head when I had the chance!"

The Tulpa form of Jade slammed her fist on the floor, creating a rumble.  The girls cried and tried to keep their balance.

"We'll have to destroy them both!" Rochelle shouted, "but how?"

"I--I, I don't know," Rowena mumbled.  

"You don't know? What do you mean, you don't know!" Robyn demanded with a sneer, "Rowena, you idiot, think of something!"

"How can I when you insult me?" Rowena snapped.

"You cannot defeat me!" Tulpa Jade boomed.  "I am invincible!"

"Give Rowena the power of your armor!" Yuli shouted.

"Isn't that dangerous?" Joy asked.  "For all of us?"

"Let's just do it," Phyllis said.  "It's the only way!"

"Yeah, kick her iron-clad ass, Rowena!" Rochelle shouted.

"We're counting on you!" Robyn yelled.

"I hope you know you're making a big risk," Rowena said.  

The new ronins sent Rowena all of their ancient armor power.  "We are with you, Rowena of the Strata Moon!"

Four different colors waves circled around Rowena, shedding off her armor of Strata Moon, leaving her in her sub armor.  She was standing in the middle of the universe, distant galaxies and stars burning.  Comets flew around space.  As she placed her hands together, a giant comet engulfed her.  The under gear was a shiny black.  Over part of it was silvery-white and blue with decorations of stars and comets.  The under-lining armor was black, like on the Inferno.  But unlike the Inferno armor, it wasn't mostly white.  The tops of the gauntlets were black and as it came down to her arms, they changed to indigo and then to white.  Where the four-diamond symbol appeared on the inferno armor appeared the strata symbol.  Rowena threw her head back and her braid came undone, her long sky blue hair fell down past her knees.  She picked up her helmet and placed it upon her head.  It was indigo like the armor with star like armor ornaments that came down on the side of the helmet.  Her new bow and arrows was platinum instead of gold and much bigger. The arrows were twice as long and sharper and the power of platinum arrow will be like twenty of her gold ones.  She raised her head with a proud smile and chuckled, feeling like a million bucks in her new armor: The Armor of the Cosmos. 

'If only my father could see me now,' she thought.

The four others lay down unconscious in their sub armor. 

"Guys!" she yelled, "are you all right?"

"They'll be all right, Rowena, just do your thing!"  Yuli cried.  "Rini, she'll need you to back her up!"

"I'm on it," Princess Purity said, her scepter appearing in her hand.  

"We're also with you, Princess Purity," Zircon said, "to the death!  War Ladies, perform what your father's taught you!"

"You heard Zircon," Priscilla said, "now!  BLACK LIGHTNING SLASH!"

"ELMENT OF SURPRISE!"

"SERPENT COILS CONSTRICT!"  

"TREMBLE WITH TERROR!"

The war ladies' attacks made the Tulpa form of Jade stop moving for a few moments.

"Moon Neo Cosmic Power!" The scepter in Rini's hand shot a brilliant beam of pink light in Jade's dark energy blast.  "It's…too…powerful…I'm not strong enough…" she muttered.

"Don't give up, Rini," Yuli said putting his hands over hers, "you're the daughter of Sailor Moon.  You can do it."

"Ughnnn, what in the?" Vincent groaned.  "Rini!"

"I wish my mother were here," Rini said, "and my father…"

"I'm sure Dad would want to be here too," Vincent said, putting his hands on hers, "but I'm here and Rowena's here."

"Hey, did you have a nice nap, Vincent?" Yuli asked.

Vincent grinned, "sorry, I tried to duck in time."  

"I can feel your energy," Rini said, "it's working!" it started to go through Jade's blast.  "It's working, we're going to win!"

"It's over, for you, Jade, or Tulpa, or whoever you are!" Rowena shouted.

"Am I?" both identities asked.  "I'm going to have your blood!"

"You want our blood, Jade, okay, here you go," she took out a platinum arrow from her quiver and slid the arrowhead down across her face.  A few drops of blood started falling down her face.  She placed it behind her bow, the dripping upon the floor. "ARROW COSMIC DESTROYER!" she let the arrow fly and her blood started streaming away.

"Now, we did it!" Zircon held up the ancient's staff over his head and threw it in between the two identities of Jade.

A wave larger and stronger than any of Rowena's or her father's shock waves, slammed into the Tulpa identity of Jade.  Beams from her went through the staff of the ancients and into Jade's other identity and back.  The two identities went back to the same with Rowena's arrow straight through Jade's heart.  She started breaking up into pieces and screamed.  

"You will not forget thisssss!" she hissed with her last breath.  All was left when she disappeared was Tulpa's mask, Beryl's headdress and Rowena's arrow between the two items.  Four different colored waves--one lavender, one bright blue, one dark green and the other dark red--flew to the war ladies.

"Our sailor powers," Chloe said, "we got them back!"

Zircon's necklace was lying beside Rowena's arrow and he picked his necklace up.

"I think this is mine," he said, placing it around his neck.

Rowena sighed and fell down as the armor of cosmos disappeared, leaving her in her sub armor and the powers returned back to the others.   They groaned as they stirred.

"Did we win?" Joy asked.

"Well, of course we did!" Rochelle hollered, "Who-hoooo!"

Rini fainted and fell back, Yuli catching her.

"Some battle, huh dude?" Yuli asked Vincent.

Vincent nodded, "I think we'll sleep well tonight."  He went to pick up Rowena in his arms.  He brushed her hair back with his fingers.  "Well done, Rowena," he whispered. "I knew you could do it!"

Without her, Jade's castle and world started falling apart.

"We'd better get out of here!" Yuli shouted, "quickly!" they ran of the room.  A long horizontal door began closing.

"The door's closing!" Vincent shouted.  "Hurry!"

The War Ladies ducked under with Zircon.  Rochelle jumped under the door before it closed.

"You'd better get out from there before it crushes you, Rochelle!" Joy shouted.  

"Don't worry," Rochelle said, "my armor's made out of diamonds for crying out loud." She grunted and started to push up.  She felt it go up higher, "hey, I feel strong."

"Rochelle," Phyllis mumbled.

"Thanks, Phyllis," Rochelle said, she crawled back.  She placed her hands under the door and held it up as everyone was crawling through.

"Okay," Phyllis said, "let's go!" they dropped and rolled under the door.

"There's the portal!" Yuli cried.  They jumped through the portal and landed back to their homeland.

"Wow, that was fun," Rochelle said, "Can we do it again?"

"Oh, Rochelle," Joy sighed and dropped her head on the ground.

"Party pooper," Rochelle muttered.


	8. New Life

Meaning Of Life 8 Terry Dale Terry Dale 3 26 2001-09-21T15:38:00Z 2001-10-20T04:06:00Z 6 1756 10012 none 83 20 12295 9.3821 0 0 

**Meaning Of Life 8**

**New Life**

They returned home unharmed.  When Rowena woke up, she felt as if a truck hit her.  Her dad was sitting on the edge of her bed.

"I hear you got a new armor," he said.

"Yeah," she groaned, "but I think it will take me a while to get used to it."

He nodded, "I know, the Inferno armor took a lot out of Ryo the first couple times.  What was it like though?"

"It was cool!" she exclaimed in a whisper.  "It's called the armor of cosmos.  I wish you could have been there to see me wearing it.  I wanted you to feel proud of me."

"Rowena," Rowen said, pulling her in his arms, "you made it out in one piece, of course I'm proud of you!"

"Thanks, Dad."  She said.  "Listen, I think you should know what I was thinking when I got hurt."

"You were scared?"

"No," she said, "I really didn't care.  I guess I was trying so hard to be perfect because I didn't think I was good enough."

"We all feel like that," Rowen said, understanding.

"Really?"

"I'm just glad you're okay now," he said with a nod.  "I'm really proud of you.  You saved us all from Jade.  The others couldn't have done it without you."

"Yes…I know that now."

**************************************************************

"Gwen, wake up, wake up!" Pricilla jumped up on her bed.

"Hey!" she sat straight up, bags underneath her eyes.  "You just don't jump on people's beds like that!" she shouted, "Could you go please?" she lied back down.  "I'm trying to get some sleep! That battle took a lot out of me!"

"You whiner!" Pricilla snapped.  "Come on, let's go!"

"It's too early in the morning!" she grunted.

Priscilla got up and took her arm, dragging her across the floor.  

"Okay, okay!" Gwen shouted, getting up to her feet, "this better be good!" Gwen was a lot like her father.  _She_ didn't like getting up early either.  She stomped out in the throne room.  Everyone was having an early breakfast.

Dais was sitting next to his wife, propping his head up with his hand, elbow resting on the table.

"Dais," Amara muttered, nudging him.

"Web of….deception," he mumbled, half asleep.

"You woke me up for a breakfast?" Gwen demanded.  She went to sit on the other side of her father and made the same look.  She got tired and then rested her head on her father's shoulder. 

"Like father like daughter," Amara mumbled, "wake up you two!" she shouted.

"WEB OF DECEPTION!"

"ELEMENT OF SURPRISE!"

The whole table erupted with laughter.  Dais and Gwen exchanged glances, raising their eyebrows.

"I don't think you five have been to the 21st century, have you?" Trista asked. 

"No," Ivy said.

"Would you like to go?" 

"Sure," Zircon said, "I'd love to!"

"All right then," Trista said, "let's hurry, um, Gwen, you might want to change."

"Wha?  Where are we going?"

**************************************************************

"Go long, Vince!" Yuli hollered, picking up a football.  He threw it to Vincent as he was about to catch it, a girl with short grayish-blue hair wearing tan overall cutoffs and a blue shirt jumped in the way and caught the football.

"Rochelle!" Vincent muttered.

"Get her!" Yuli started running after her.

"I'm going to score a touch down!" Rochelle ran as fast as she could to the other end.  "Yes, touch down!" she spiked the ball and did a funny dance.  Yuli tackled her anyway and began tickling her like a brother might do.  

Though she should have been jealous, Rini wasn't, "look at Yuli," she said to Rowena with a grin.

Rochelle moved and put Yuli in a headlock, "say uncle!"

Rowena looked up from her book, "yeah."

"Rowena!" Rini shouted.

"What?"

"Put that book away!"  
  


"Why should I?" she demanded.  "I love to read, you know."

Robyn walked up to Vincent, "Hi Vincent, I--"

"Uh-oh," Rowena put down the book and ran over to Vincent, "Hey Vincent, you want to play a game of tennis with me?"

"Sure," he said.

Rowena looked back over her shoulder and stuck her tongue out at Robyn.  Robyn turned red.

Phyllis and Joy were cooking some hamburgers on a grill.  Phyllis wore an apron that said 'kiss the chef' over her blue shorts and a purple t-shirt.

"This is fun," Gwen admitted as they were walking around the park.

"It's too bright and hot out here!" Priscilla hissed, shielding her eyes.

"You need to get out more," Gwen said, "you're so white!  Get a tan!"

"I need something to cool me down," she said, "why did my mom send to a time when it was summer?"

"Maybe she thinks you need some sun too!" Gwen yelled.

"Look, a shaved ice vendor!" she gasped, "I love that stuff!"  She ran to the vendor.  "I'll take a large with blue raspberry flavor and can I have the flavor chilled a bit?"

The seller looked confused.

Ivy screamed.  Everyone ran to see what the matter was.

"What's wrong, Ivy?" Chloe asked.

"A spider!" she shouted, pointing at a small brown spider on her towel.

"It's just a little spider!" Gwen groaned and picked it up.

"You touched it!" Ivy groaned.  "Are you nuts?!"

"They're more afraid of you," Gwen pushed her palm over to her.  (Yeah, whatever! That's what they all say!)

"They're disgusting and poisonous!"

"Not all spiders are poisonous," Gwen said, "or disgusting.  And besides, you're immune to poison anyway!"  She lifted her hand up, "don't listen to her," she said to the spider and petted it.

Ivy groaned and walked away.

"Tonight, when you sleep…." Gwen hissed under her breath.

"Lunch is ready," Joy announced.

"All right, food!" Rochelle dropped Yuli and ran to the grill.

"Thank goodness," Yuli moaned.

Rochelle took a big bite and tried to swallow it without chewing.  It got lodged in her throat.

"She can't breathe!" Joy gasped.  She got behind her best friend and started to do the Heimlich. The bite of food flew out of her mouth.  "You okay, Rochelle?"

"My hamburger!" she cried.

"Next time, chew when you eat!"

"But where's the fun in that?"

Joy sighed.

After lunch, the girls basked in the sun.  Priscilla kept shielding her eyes and hissing like a vampire.  The guys were skateboarding around them like sharks.

"Hey!" Robyn shouted, "We're trying to get some sun here!"

"Get 'em!" Rochelle cried and jumped for Yuli.  The other girls just continued to lay in the sun.

"Aaaugh!" Yuli started skating as fast as he could.

Zircon got off his skateboard, "I don't think I got the hang of this thing."  He said to Vincent.

"I think Yuli's the only guy who can skate better than anyone else," Vincent said.

"This was a good idea," Rowena said, "I miss this timeframe."

"Me too," Rini agreed.

Vincent saw a skating tournament taking place on the other side of the park, "Yuli come over here!"

Yuli skated over after losing Rochelle.  "Yeah?"  
  


"Look over there!" Vincent pointed at the guys skating in the tournament.  

Yuli gasped, "This is the moment I've been hoping for my whole life!"

"Hey!" Rini snarled.

"Ookay, second moment," Yuli said.

"Better."

"I think you can win," Vincent said, "You've been skating ever since you were a kid!"

"Well, it's worth a try," Yuli said.

"This sounds like fun," Robyn said.

"Let's go," Rochelle panted, "but first I want to get Yuli for interrupting valuable tan time!"

"Rochelle, you already have a great tan," Yuli said.

"I do?" he asked.

"Yeah," he smiled.

"Thaaanks!" she put him in another headlock and gave him a noogie.

"Hey!"

They went to the desk, "is this where we sign in?" Robyn asked.

"You're skating?" the person at the desk questioned.

"No, I am," Yuli said. 

"Okay, here's your number," he took out a sign that said 35 on it.  Rochelle put it on his back for him.  "You go wait over there." He pointed at the contestant line.

"Good luck, Yuli!" Rini wished as she kissed his cheek.  

They sat in the bleachers and waited for Yuli.  There were some good skaters before Yuli and some weren't all that great.  Ten minutes passed by.

"This is boring," Rini said, "When's Yuli going to come in?"

"I think this guy's pretty cute!" Phyllis exclaimed.  She and Robyn had hearts in their eyes.

"Hey, are you rooting for Yuli or some guy you don't even know?" Rochelle demanded, turning around.  Then she looked at the guy skating now.  "He's cute!"

"I wish this guy would hurry up!" Rini sighed.

Priscilla smiled, "Okay," she closed her eyes in concentration and everything was moving in fast motion.  

"Wow, who pressed the fast forward button?" Rochelle demanded.

It was Yuli's turn and he stepped up to the skating board.

"Stop!" Rini shouted, "go back a little bit."

Priscilla opened her eyes and rewound it like it was a tape.

"Good, that's good, right there!"  Rini said.  She looked at Priscilla, "thanks!"

"I didn't know you could rewind or fast forward time," Robyn said, impressed.

"Well, I don't want to brag, but--"

"Then don't," Ivy said.

Priscilla looked at Ivy as if she could smack her.

"Go Yuli!" Rini cheered.

Yuli waved at her and then he pushed off down the ramp.  He did seven spins in the air and a lot of cool stunts.

"Whoa, I want to see that again!" Rochelle said, "Did you guys see what he did?"

Priscilla rewound time again and put it in slow motion.  The girls leaned over to get a good look on Yuli's excellent stunt.  Priscilla put it back in original motion.

"Awesome!" Rowena cried.  "The guy's a natural!"

After Yuli's awesome performance, the girl's cheered for him. The next contestant came up to perform.

"Ah, I don't want to see this," Rini sighed, "I want to see the judging!" and Priscilla fast-forwarded it.  "Stop!"  Rini smiled at Priscilla, "I wish Sailor P could do that!"

Priscilla shrugged and smiled, "Well…" she looked at Ivy frowning and stopped before she could continue.

"And the winnah is, number 35!" The announcer declared.

"That's Yuli's number!" Rini shouted, "He won!"  She ran down to congratulate him with hugs and kisses.

Yuli hugged her tight, "I don't know about you, but I'd like to get married now."

"Okay," she gave him a big kiss and then the next scene; they were kissing at their wedding.

"Congratulations!" the next generation of sailors cried.

"Thank you, everyone," Rini said.  She peered around, wondering where her brother and sister were. She blushed, without having to think too long.

"Our sister's married now," Vincent said, "a bit hard for me to believe."

"There's no other man alive that could make her happier than Yuli," Rowena said. 

They were standing on the castle roof.  "So, Rowena," Vincent began, "I just wanted to…."

"Shh, don't say anything," Rowena said.  She turned around and smiled.  "This is Rini's day, so let's not ruin it."  She turned around and looked at the moon.  "The moon looks so beautiful tonight."

Vincent slid his arms around her waist and breathed in the cool air of the silent night.

********************************

Rini sat on the bed wearing a silky pink nightgown, waiting for her new husband. He entered holding a glass of wine.  "I had to steal this away from your brother," he joked. Her poured the wine into two glasses and handed one to her.  "To us and our marriage."  They clicked their glasses together and took a small sip.

Rini smiled and rubbed Yuli's face, "you have any idea how happy you've made me?"

"Here, sit down," he led her to the bed, "Rini, I think that's what my entire purpose is in my life.  Remember the first time I met you?"

She nodded, "we were only kids."

"You kissed my cheek when I was going back home with the ronin warriors," Yuli said, "and--,"

"You wiped it off," Rini said.

"I wasn't expecting to get a kiss," he admitted, "but I'm glad I got one.  The ronin warriors missed all the scouts and I started missing you too.  I felt kind of bad that I didn't get the time to get to know you.  I just couldn't get your beautiful face," he reached his hands to her face, "out of my mind. I love you, Rini."

"I love you too, Yuli," she breathed.

He leaned forward to kiss her.  She reached her hand to his collar and leaned back.  They made love and it was the most beautiful experience that they ever shared with one another.  

If there were ever a new enemy, they would not be too much for the next generation of scouts and warriors to handle.

**End**


End file.
